Filling in the Empty Spots
by Miratete
Summary: Chapter 11: "The Summer Solstice Ball" posted! Princess Vanellope von Schweetz throws the grandest party in the history of Litwak's Arcade. But there's trouble with a capital T ahead...T for Taffyta. It begins with a Ralph & Jubileena scene guaranteed to make you squee or your money back. Jawbreaker & CherryCrush
1. The State of Things

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Chapter 1: The State of Things**

-o-o-o-o-o-

Jubileena lay in the field of red-twist licorice grass, the tall stems stretching above her head and swaying slightly in the breezes that tumbled down from the Snowcone mountains. The glistening high peaks of rainbow colored ice enclosed the valley on the north side. Even higher overhead pink cotton-candy clouds floated peacefully through the sky. Butterflies with glassy wings of hard-candy fluttered past now and then.

She would lie there for hours, ignoring the occasional sound of kart engines in the distance. The days when she didn't make the top nine racers seemed to be spent more and more like this, lying alone, listening to the wind rustle the thick bright red grass and parade the clouds overhead.

No one ever knew she went there. Her kart was always perfectly hidden in a hollow away from the road. After parking it she would change into her formal gown and comb out her hair, and then lie in the grass waiting.

Waiting for _him_...

Waiting for hours...waiting for days...waiting for weeks...

Waiting for someone who would never come...

At least she could dream.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The cheering of the crowds never ceased. Princess Vanellope von Schweetz tossed her coin into the huge trophy-shaped receptacle amidst the smiles of her loyal subjects and her name took its place at the top of the roster. Everything was as it should be.

The princess flitted down the stairs from the royal grandstand and glitched out of her fluffy pink gown and into her racing suit in a burst of red crystal sugar. It still seemed odd to Ralph, who still expected to see the blocky bluish pixels, the visible manifestation of what Vanellope had always called pixslexia, damage that had been caused by Turbo's interference with her Code.

Ralph found his eyes filling with tears, and he tried to hold them back. Quickly he grabbed his huge hankie and dabbed at his eyes.

The princess made her way to her large sparkling kart, appearing just like she did on the outside of the _Sugar Rush_ cabinet. And on reaching the royal kart, she noticed Ralph sitting at the foot of one of the grandstands, and she waved at him.

Ralph managed a smile and waved back. The princess always had a wave or a little curtsey for him, and an unspoken fondness for the lumpy giant with sad eyes who came over from his game most nights to watch the Random Roster Race. Sometimes the other racers would talk to him, but never for very long. She kept meaning to chat with him herself sometime. But he never hung around after the race, and never after she crossed the finish line. After watching politely... quietly... he always left in a different direction every night, presumably to wander the kingdom alone. The other racers often reported seeing him all over the world, sometimes with a compass in one hand, sometimes with a map he appeared to be drawing, sometimes with a sketchbook he was scribbling notes into.

The Princess hopped into her kart and started the engine. It was going to be another fabulous race.

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 2: The Cherry Girl**

**Chapter 3: The Ice Cave**

**Chapter 4: Soda Water Shores**

**Chapter 5: Pie, Performance, and Pleasantries**

**Chapter 6: A Painful Anniversary**

**Chapter 7: Changes**

**Chapter 8: Breakdown**

**Chapter 9: Little Cabin in the Woods**

**Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow**

**Chapter 11: The Spring Solstice Ball**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	2. The Cherry Girl

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Chapter 2: The Cherry Girl **

-o-o-o-o-o-

Wreck-It Ralph stood on the mountainside surveying the land below. It was another perfect day in _Sugar Rush_, just like almost every day in _Sugar Rush_. He'd just come down from the chilly heights of the Snowcone Range and was deciding upon a route back to the rainbow bridge that would take him home. There were no paths or roads in this area to follow, so he just decided to head in that general direction and go where his feet led him.

Starting down from the icy slope, he could see Red Twist Park below, and the road that cut past it on the west side, and his feet drifted in that direction, the bright red meadow looking so inviting to walk through. From there he could follow the road and eventually get back to the main area of the game. Occasionally someone would give him a ride if they happened to spot him following a track. But today that wouldn't be a concern. There was plenty of time to get back to _Fix-It Felix, Jr._ before the Arcade opened, a whole day in fact.

And as he was trudging across Red Twist Park his foot caught something hidden in the deep grass. Ralph nearly fell over but caught himself. Looking down he saw a girl wearing a long dress stretched out in the licorice. "Whoa! I almost tripped on you. I didn't see you!" he apologized.

Jubileena had squeaked as his toe had hit her leg, waking her. And then she screamed at seeing the huge man looming over her. She stopped screaming when she realized who it was. And then she simply felt foolish for having been so terrified, and next felt terribly embarrassed for having been discovered in her private retreat.

Ralph blinked at her, and then there was a little smile of recognition. "Jubileena?"

She nodded and sat up.

"What are you doing out here? And dressed like that too?"

"Oh...I was just trying my gown on." Her formal gown was of ivory satin trimmed with embroidered cherries and red satin ribbon. And while usually she had some of her hair up in pigtails, it was down and combed out, making it look much longer than usual.

"Out here?" He'd seen the _Sugar Rush_ racers in their formal outfits on State occasions before, occasions he was once a regular fixture at. But that had all ended with the new reign. There were no invitations or even expectations.

"Ummm...yeah..."

"You look pretty."

"Thanks."

They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, and then Ralph plopped himself down into the grass.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Jubileena asked. "This is a long way from the Speedway."

"I know. Just exploring. I can't seem to stay away from _Sugar Rush_," he sighed and then he toppled over to lie on his back in the grass.

"You miss her a lot, don't you?" No names needed to be mentioned. Everyone but the current princess knew that Vanellope had been his girlfriend, the girl he had loved and the girl he had lost.

Ralph's eyes lifted. "I do. I miss her every day."

"I wish I'd known her better. You know how it was."

"Yeah," he said, nodding slowly. "I think I was the only one who knew her really well. And admittedly, after her restoration, she still kinda kept to herself. Well, except for myself and Felix and Calhoun. The four of us were all so close...especially her and I."

"And is that why you still come to _Sugar Rush_? Because you miss her?"

"I guess. Every time I see the princess, it's like getting a little bit of her back, and it makes me smile." He sighed heavily. "And then the race is over and she's gone and I feel alone again. I hope no one thinks I'm some kind of creepy stalker."

"Naw...we all know who you are." Jubileena lay back down. "It's been nearly two years now, hasn't it?"

"And the new princess is great and all, but..."

"But she's not _your_ Vanellope."

"Yeah." Ralph's hand went to his chest, the place the cookie medal had first hung. Now it sat in a locked casket in his house back in his own game. "So that's my sob story. What are you doing out here, Jubileena?"

"Oh...nothing," she said, blushing.

"Nothing? And all dressed up like that?"

"Well~" she said averting her eyes. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be in your game?"

"Remember...Tuesday. Arcade's closed."

Jubileena blushed again. "Oops! So it is."

Ralph lumbered to his feet. "Well, I guess I'd better be moving on."

Jubileena sat up again. "Can I give you a ride back to town?"

The big man shook his head. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm in no hurry to get anywhere. I'll just keep wandering I think."

"All right. If you decide you'd like a ride or something, I'll be here for a while yet. But...please don't tell anyone else that I'm here."

"Why not? What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing...um...just...just daydreaming."

The wrecker smiled at her. "Sometimes I do that too. Sweet dreams, Cherry Girl," he said and continued on.

-o-o-o-o-o-

_Ralph clung to the top of the race car driven by Sarah, one of the two female racers. She sped to the scene of the accident and Ralph hopped off as soon as she screeched to a halt. He ran over to the burning wreckage where four formula one cars were piled up and burning. Ambulance sirens squealed in the distance._

"_Vanellope!" he screamed and ran to where her pink car lay on its top. He tipped it right side up, ignoring the flames that licked at him. Desperately he tore off her seatbelts, lifted her tiny body out of the wreckage, and carried her back to the car he'd arrived in. "We have to get her back to Sugar Rush!" Cradling the tiny body in one arm Ralph climbed back onto Sarah's car and she took off immediately._

"_Ralph...I hurt," Vanellope moaned, apparently conscious again._

"_Hang in there sweetheart. We'll be back in Sugar Rush soon and then you can let go."_

_She managed a weak smile for him._

_The raceway seemed to go on forever, and Ralph clung tightly to Vanellope, every second seeming to take too much time to pass. Her bubblegum-pink blood was soaking into his clothes. But eventually Sarah pulled up at the exit to Game Central Station and Ralph jumped out and ran for the train that would take them there. The four Formula One Xtreme racers ran right behind him._

"_Ralph...not so fast." Vanellope whimpered._

"_Time is critical. You've been badly hurt."_

"_A-doy," she said, her sass still there despite her desperate condition._

_Reaching the train terminal they were horrified to find the train wasn't there. Joey ran to the end of the platform and punched the summons button several times frustratedly. "Of all the times for the train to be in the tunnel!" he cursed._

"_Stinkbrain..." Vanellope said calmly, "I'm dying."_

"_Just hang in there. You're not allowed to die yet," he said, looking anxiously down the tracks that lead into the long dark tunnel. "Where is that train!?"_

_She looked up at Ralph with another weak smile. "Ralph, I'm glad you're here."_

_He looked down at her and tenderly brushed back her bangs, trying to ignore how much blood there was. He was now soaked in it._

"_We just have to get you back to Sugar Rush. Just hang on a bit longer, sweetie," said Sarah, taking the girl's hand. Vanellope's skin looked far paler than usual._

_And then a light appeared somewhere down the tunnel, and Ralph's spirits rose. He moved to the edge of the platform. Why was everything moving so slowly in Formula One Xtreme tonight?_

"_Vanellope!" shrieked Sarah suddenly._

_The five looked at her, and the panic on their faces was clear. Ralph watched in horror as Vanellope's body crumbling into red crystals of sugar._

"_Vanellope! No! Don't go! Don't let it take you! You can't die here!"_

_But it was too late. The girl was gone, melting through Ralph's fingers into a pile of sugar, and then disappearing altogether._

"_Vanellope..." Ralph mumbled in shock. "Vanellope..."_

_Traci put her hand on Ralph's shoulder, and Sarah turned away, burying her face in her hands.  
_

"_She's gone...she's gone just like that..." the wrecker stammered._

"_Ralph, I'm so sorry..." Larry choked. He had died in the accident as well, but had immediately regenerated at the finish line._

_Ralph stood up, still dazed and not wanting to accept what had just happened, unsure that it actually had. This was all some bad dream, wasn't it? One moment he was having a great time watching Vanellope race in Formula One Xtreme, and the next there had been a horrible accident. Surely this wasn't real, was it?_

_Ralph looked down at his hands again, huge hands that had just been holding the girl. His singed fingers were painful from the fire and hot metal when he had pulled her out of the car._

_And then he collapsed to the platform and began to cry._

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 3: The Ice Cave**

**Chapter 4: Soda Water Shores**

**Chapter 5: Pie, Performance, and Pleasantries**

**Chapter 6: A Painful Anniversary**

**Chapter 7: Changes**

**Chapter 8: Breakdown**

**Chapter 9: Little Cabin in the Woods**

**Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow**

**Chapter 11: The Spring Solstice Ball**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	3. The Ice Cave

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Chapter 3: The Ice Cave**

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ralph was a bit more vigilant the next time he crossed the meadow of Red Twist Park, this time noticing the disturbance in the grass before he reached the spot where Jubileena Bing Bing was lying amidst the red candy stems. At first he moved slowly, silently, but as he got closer he decided it best to warn her instead of scaring her again. "Hello! Anyone there?"

The racer sat up, again wearing her long gown and the teensy tiara of cherry-shaped rhinestones that went with it. "Ralph?"

"Just me again." It had been two weeks since he had traversed the area and literally bumped into her, and while he had not expected to find her there, he was almost happy she was. And it seemed as if she were happy to see him. "All dressed up and nowhere to go?" he asked her.

"Ralph, what are you doing here again?"

"Oh, just wandering back through."

"What's with the lantern?" she asked, pointing at the one hanging from his hand.

"I thought I'd go up to the Snowcone mountains again. There was this really pretty ice cave up there, but I couldn't go in far since I didn't have a light."

"Really?" she asked interestedly. "I've never been up there," she said, looking up to the icy heights towering above the park.

"I'd ask you if you wanted to come with, but you're not really dressed for exploring. A ball, yes, but not where I'm going."

She looked down at herself, all satin and chiffon and embroidery, her matching ivory slippers poking out from beneath the hem of her dress. "No, I guess not. But I do have my regular clothes in my kart, if you would wait for me to change."

"You do? Well if you'd like to come with me, then all right. I'll just wait here for you to change your clothes." Ralph plopped down as Jubileena stood up, gathered up her long skirts, and ran across the meadow. He smiled. He and Vanellope used to go exploring together all the time, escaping the worlds they knew in hopes of seeing others, a favorite past time that had eventually led to her death. "Don't think about that, Wreck-It," he chided himself as the little girl bounced away from him across the meadow.

In ten minutes she was back, this time dressed in more familiar and more practical clothing, her little red jacket and boots, striped leggings, and white cherry-printed tee-shirt, red skirt and her glossy cherry beanie. "I hope you don't mind me tagging along," she said. "I really would like to see that cave."

"I don't mind at all. It will be nice to have a little company for a change."

"I thought you liked being alone. That's what everyone says."

Ralph looked at the diminutive racer with a confused expression. "Being alone? I never wanted to be alone. Ever."

"Oh...everyone just said you did because you always were coming here alone and watching the races by yourself."

"What does 'everyone' know about me?" he growled.

"I'm sorry. I was just repeating what I'd heard."

"Well you heard..." and then he stopped, realizing the girl was cringing slightly. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "I didn't mean to raise my voice."

Jubileena straightened up. "I thought you were going to get angry."

"I thought so too." And then he chuckled. "I guess I'm kinda sensitive about it."

This made her smile and she walked up to him and reached for his hand. "Let's go see that cave."

"All right."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ralph led the way up the slopes of the Snowcone Mountains, a bit of a smile on his face. It was nice to have company. But his mind raced, trying to think of the right things to say to her and how not to frighten her. He knew his size could be intimidating. His first two encounters with the _Sugar Rush_ racers had involved them running away from him in terror. There was also the worry that the expedition up into the cave would be too difficult or dangerous for her.

But every time he turned back the cherry girl was there, trotting along a few paces behind him, her pigtails bobbing with each step and her face all one smile.

The red ropy grass gave way to bare ground as the altitude increased, and as the climb became exhaustingly steep the bare ground became icy. But not too much further along Ralph found the crevice that led into the ice cave.

Stepping inside, out of the wind, Ralph lit the lantern and adjusted the flame. "I fuel this thing with the oil that seeps at the Baklava Flats. It burns pretty well."

Jubileena wasn't really listening. "Ooh! Pretty!" she exclaimed looking at the icicles hanging from the ceiling and the multicolored frozen waterfall clinging to the wall. The frost crystals caught the flickering light of the lantern and made everything glitter. "How far in does it go?" she asked.

"Not sure. I didn't have a light with me so I couldn't go too deep. But I could see these in the bit of light that comes in. And I could see that the cave went much deeper."

"It's just so pretty," she said. "It sparkles like magic."

Ralph held forth the lantern and started to walk down the dark passage The footing was slippery and awkward and the going was slow, but he and the racer trekked steadily toward the heart of the mountain. The walls and ceiling continued to glisten with ice crystals and a multitude of icicles in a rainbow of colors. "It's like the Rainbow Ice Caves part of the Speedway," Jubileena declared. "Only smaller and prettier."

The passage sloped upwards and a faint light could be seen ahead. Ralph wondered if they were perhaps coming to another exit to the outside, but instead the narrow tunnel led into a large cathedral-like room. Columns of ice stretched from floor to ceiling. Frost crystals covered the ground like a carpet. Shorter stalagmites of ice stood about like so many frozen parishioners. At the very center a stream of meltwater plunged from a hole in the roof of the huge cavern into a frozen font before running in a streambed along the floor and disappearing into a crevice. The room was not dark, but instead seemed to be lit from below, giving the place a fairyland appearance of delicate luminous color.

"This place is amazing," gasped Jubileena. "I had no idea there was anywhere like this in _Sugar Rush_."

"Nor did I."

Ralph moved to the center of the room and sat on a broken column lying near the font. And for a long time he just sat there taking in the magnificent scenery, fascinated by the play of color and light and ice, marveling at the place they had found. Jubileena walked and slid about the room, skipping and dancing amidst the columns, her happy laughter and snatches of song echoing all around.

Ralph pulled out his notebook and began to draw out a map of the cave, doodling in the features and using his compass to get a more accurate representation down onto paper.

"Ralph, what are you doing?" she asked as she walked past to look at the waterfall again.

"Just making a map. I found an old map that Vanellope had drawn once, back when she was the Glitch, and I just kept expanding on it."

"Is that what you've been doing in Sugar Rush while you've been wandering around?"

"Yup," he said with a smug grin. "Gives me something legitimate to do here." He flipped the pages of his notebook, giving her a glance at all he'd been working on.

"And once it's all drawn, what are you going to do with it?"

"Eh, I dunno. Maybe make up one really huge map and hang it in the castle. Maybe just keep it for myself."

"It's kinda cool that you're making one," she said and skipped off again.

After a while they found themselves shivering and decided they should leave. "We can always come back, right?"

Outside the cavern and long tunnel, they descended quickly to the warmer temperatures of Red Twist Park and walked over to Jubileena's kart. "Thank you for taking me with you, Ralph. That was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen."

"You're welcome. It was nice to share it with someone." And then he tied his lantern to the little pack he carried. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around."

As he started to leave, Jubileena called to him. "Ralph, um..."

"Yes?" he asked, turning around to face her again. He'd only gotten a few steps away.

"If...if you're going exploring somewhere again, and you don't mind, I'd like to come with you," she said shyly, her usually reddish skin turning redder with a bit of a blush. "I don't get out much."

Ralph shifted his hands on the straps of his pack. "All right. I'll let you know if there's a trip you might like. I've got a lot more of my map to draw. There are so many empty spots."

She beamed. "Thank you, Ralph!" she squeaked. "You can leave notes for me at the Cherry Cabana, or find me at the Random Roster Race."

"All right."

To his surprise she hugged him around the leg with a happy little noise. And then she hopped into the Cherriot, waved goodbye, and zoomed away, a big smile on her face. What had started for her as another nearly pointless day of lying in the meadow had turned so interesting.

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 4: Soda Water Shores**

**Chapter 5: Pie, Performance, and Pleasantries**

**Chapter 6: A Painful Anniversary**

**Chapter 7: Changes**

**Chapter 8: Breakdown**

**Chapter 9: Little Cabin in the Woods**

**Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow**

**Chapter 11: The Spring Solstice Ball**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	4. Soda Water Shores

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Chapter 4: Soda Water Shores**

-o-o-o-o-o-

The trip up into the Snowcone Mountains was just the successful start of their explorations together, and soon Jubileena and Ralph were trekking all over _Sugar Rush_. Sometimes as she would stand, gazing out at some grand view, a view she knew that none of the other racers had ever seen she would beam and ooh and try to put the scenery into words. And always she was amazed that it was a foreigner who led her to these beautiful vistas, not a native of _Sugar Rush_.

He took her all around her world, deep into caves and far into the mountain ranges and across the deserts, showing her the sights the others had no time for. The days the arcade was closed were her favorite, for they would take longer trips together, going further than they could just overnight. Both still had their jobs as wrecker and racer to attend to.

On the long trips they would sleep under the stars, Jubileena in a little sleeping bag and Ralph with a big blanket stretched over him. At first she had been uncomfortable with it, never having slept anywhere but inside her little house. And he laughed, telling her that he'd spent thirty years sleeping outdoors on a trash heap of broken bricks with only a blanket of bricks between him and the night.

And it was on one of their longer trips, while Litwak was taking a vacation to Mexico for a week, and Ralph and Jubileena were taking an extended journey to map the northwestern coast of the Soda Water Ocean, that a rare thunderstorm blew up in the night. They were camping in the sugar sand dunes just off of the beach, but soon retreated to the slightly more sheltered forest beyond the dunes to avoid the wind and rain and hail. Tucking down in a tight grove they were more protected. But a cold and wet Jubileena crawled under Ralph's blanket and up against his chest, neglecting the usual physical distance they kept between each other. Desperate to warm up, and seeing Ralph starting to fall asleep again, apparently quite comfortable, she was willing to snuggle next to him. He said nothing, feeling her shivering and knowing exactly why she was there, but wordlessly wrapped his hand around her against the cold and damp.

For her, it felt strange to be held. No one had ever held her before, not like this. There were quick hugs and happy embraces between her and the other racers, but no one had ever held her so closely, where she could hear a heartbeat other than her own. She could follow the slow rhythm of his chest as it rose and fell with his sleepy breathing. And suddenly she had the realization that this was what it felt like to be Vanellope—the lost Vanellope—to lie warm and protected in the arms of a friend, feeling as if the world could never hurt her there.

Her little hands curled around the fabric of Ralph's shirt and she pulled herself tightly to him, inhaling his earthy scent and absorbing the permeating warmth.

And while Jubileena thought of Vanellope, so did Ralph. This was exactly how they used to sleep together on cold nights, the tiny president curled up to his broad chest, his arm draped protectively over her.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ralph and Jubileena woke at daybreak, uncurled from each others grasp, and rose stiffly, stretching in the morning sun. Looking at Ralph's map, it appeared that the beach went to the north but into a large empty area he had yet to explore to fill in the gaps on his map.

They walked along the sandy stretch for hours, and when the day grew hot Ralph took off his ratty orange shirt and rolled up his tattered pant legs. Jubileena took off her little red jacket, her socks, leggings, and boots, stuffing them all into her pack. They chased the sparkling surf and the candy crabs across the beach, laughing and playing and looking for any Belgian seashell chocolates that had washed ashore. At one point the shoreline turned into a definite curve inland and there were thick round candysticks jutting from the sand. Written into each it said "Rockstick Bay." The lettering went all the way through each as they could see where the sticks were broken.

When the sun grew even hotter at midday the pair took shelter under an overhanging cliff to rest a bit in the cool shadows. As they relaxed Jubileena rolled onto her side to look at Ralph. "Ralph?"

"Yes?"

"Would...would you tell me about Vanellope. Your Vanellope?" If you don't mind. I'll understand if you don't want to talk about her."

His eyes lifted, in the way they always did when something emotional was in his throat. "Why would you want to know? She's dead and gone now."

"I know we'll never see her again, but she's still in your heart. She's a part of you."

A tender smile washed across the giant's face. "Well, what do you want to know about her?"

"Well...hmmmm. Well how did you meet. I know that it had something to do with the Cy-Bug incident in _Sugar Rush_, and that she was the Glitch when you came but then she was the princess again after the incident."

"She was the Glitch then, and an annoying little punk she was when we met. She stole the medal that I'd only just stolen from _Hero's Duty_."

And so while they rested, Ralph began the long tale of "the incident" that brought him and the little outcast together, starting with the thirtieth anniversary party in _Fix-It Felix, Jr._ that led to the confrontation with Gene, and the bet that was made that night. Life was not one long fuse that led to a big bang at the end. Instead, it was a series of events, a chain of happenings and coincidences that continued on to some unseen end over the horizon. The fuse led simply from one firecracker to another.

The story continued as they headed out along the beach again, Ralph recalling all the strange and funny and frightening events of that day and a half. Jubileena laughed and moaned and hung on every word of the epic adventure. And when he got to the point of his first appearance at the _Sugar Rush_ Speedway starting line, where he'd charged after the little thief, his body coated from head to toe in green taffy and the candy that had stuck to it, she stopped. "Wait. That was you? You were that green monster?"

"Yup," he said, almost proudly.

"Oh my gosh! That thing came so close to me! It was the scariest moment of my life! I pee'd my pants right there at the starting line!"

Ralph laughed, remembering the panicked racers and terrified throngs of NPC's. While it had been a frustrating moment at the time, it was funny to look back on.

"I still have nightmares about you!"

"That was years ago, Jubileena," Ralph said dismissively.

"I know!" she gasped, and then she punched him hard in the thigh.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For scaring me that day," she laughed

"So...now we're even?"

"Hmmm...Let me think on it."

"Well just punch me again and we'll call it over."

She giggled. "Now tell me what happened next."

Ralph continued, and when he came to the part where the racers attacked the Glitch in the junkyard and destroyed the kart said Glitch had built, Jubileena looked guilty. "I was there," she confessed.

"There were quite a few of you there, all ganging up on her."

"And I was one of them, pushing her around and saying mean things to her. I feel bad about it now."

"I guess we're even then." Ralph looked down to see the little girl plodding next to him and saw her watery eyes full of remorse. He stretched out his hand to her, letting her know that he forgave her for her part in the bullying.

She took his hand and held the tip of a finger. But then he picked her up, Jubileena squeaking in surprise, and he set her onto his shoulder. "Oh!" she exclaimed and grabbed on. It was just like Vanellope used to ride around on him.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The story finished as they came to the far end of Rockstick Bay, and they could see the coastline stretching even further to the north. "Shall we camp here for the night? I'm tired," said Ralph. It was already beginning to grow dark.

"Sounds good, and tomorrow we'll make a fresh start on this beach."

Ralph knocked a hollow into the warm sand to sleep in and pulled his blanket over himself while Jubileena unrolled her sleeping bag. Snuggling into it, she looked over to where the giant was making a pillow of his arm and getting comfortable for the night. "Ralph?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for telling me. That was the best story I ever heard."

"Awww...thanks." He yawned and stretched his arms and then rolled up into his blanket.

"Ralph?

"Yes?"

"Could I come sleep with you again?"

"It's not raining and it doesn't look like it will either."

"I know. But could I?"

"All right," he sighed.

She wormed out of her sleeping bag and dragged it over to him, folding it up like a pillow for both of them. Then she curled up beneath his blanket as she had the night before, holding him closely again. "Thank you," she whispered. It felt good to be Vanellope.

"Goodnight, Jubileena," he said softly. And without thinking he bent his neck forward and kissed the top of her head, feeling the soft tickle of her cherry-scented hair against his lips. In the back of his mind it was Vanellope there, and the feeling was so comfortable.

-o-o-o-o-o-

There was some reluctance to part when the days of exploring came to an end. Friday morning at eleven, everyone was back in their places as Litwak opened the arcade. Jubileena Bing Bing, not on the day's roster, rolled her car out of its garage and headed for Red Twist Park. Arriving, she pulled her kart into its hiding place, changed into her long gown, combed out her hair, and went to lie in her meadow again.

But instead of waiting for _him_, she found her mind constantly on Ralph. Her cheeks flushed as she thought of his smile. The top of her head tingled when she remembered him kissing her there. And surprisingly, her eyes filled with tears when she thought of his love for the lost Vanellope. The giant had been so devoted to the glitch turned president. Tears always formed in his eyes when he spoke of her, and sometimes he would just start sobbing, and would do his best to try to hide it. For all his strength and courage he was a huge sap when it came to the girl he'd befriended and loved.

And thinking of him and the time they'd spent together, her heart ached to of see him again, to walk and skip along at his side, listening to him tell stories, or just to follow him where ever he roamed across _Sugar Rush_, and then to lie in his arms at night as they fell asleep together. No one had ever paid this much attention to her before. She wished she had more adventures of her own to share with him. Unlike him and his friends she'd really never gone anywhere much. But Ralph didn't seem to mind that she'd done little else with her life besides drive her kart.

And then the realization hit her that she could hardly wait to see him again.

A second realization chilled her to the very core. "Is this what love feels like?" she whispered to the clouds. And then she chided herself. "No, I can't be in love. Not with him. Who would fall in love with him?"

And then she trembled. Vanellope had. He had once been the president's boyfriend, a standard fixture around the castle and her biggest fan on the track.

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 5: Pie, Performance, and Pleasantries**

**Chapter 6: A Painful Anniversary**

**Chapter 7: Changes**

**Chapter 8: Breakdown**

**Chapter 9: Little Cabin in the Woods**

**Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow**

**Chapter 11: The Spring Solstice Ball**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	5. Pie, Performance, and Pleasantries

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Chapter 5: Pie, Performances, and Pleasantries**

-o-o-o-o-o-

Even before the arcade day ended Jubileena scrambled back into her clothes and hopped into her little kart and headed straight for the rainbow bridge to Game Central Station. Parking her kart hastily, she rushed out of the terminal and crossed paths with Ralph, who was rushing into her game. Spotting her, he stumbled in surprise and went skidding across the floor on his stomach. In his hands, lifted up to keep it from smashing, was a large pie.

"Ralph!" she exclaimed as he went sliding by.

"Jubileena!" he exclaimed as he slid past. When he came to a stop he stood up and checked the pie, breathing a sigh of a relief that it remained intact. "Here, I brought this for you," he said, presenting it. "I knew you liked pie, well since your kart's shaped like a big slice of pie."

"Ooh! Where'd you get it?"

"The ladies in our game bake them. This one's pumpkin. I'd not seen pumpkin pie in _Sugar Rush_, so I thought you might like to try it."

"It's one of Felix's pies? Awww Ralph. That's really sweet of you."

They sat down on a nearby bench in Game Central Station and Ralph produced a fork for her. Timidly at first, and then with more confidence as she became accustomed to the flavor, she ate it right out of the pie tin. "Mmmm. It's really good," she said licking her lips. "But please have some. I can't eat this all by myself."

"I'll eat whatever you don't," he said. "I mean, that pie is like three bites for me."

Jubileena giggled. "It's like a hundred for me."

Eventually she felt full and gave the rest to Ralph, who inhaled it. Jubileena laughed and asked if he'd even tasted it. "Well sure I did," he answered. "It was peach, right?"

She laughed all the harder knowing that he was teasing her. "Ralph, thanks again for taking me exploring with you," she then said with all seriousness.

"It was nice to have some company. Seeing the world with someone else was really nice." He meant it from the bottom of his heart. All his travels inside Sugar Rush had been made alone without a companion or friend to share the struggles and sights.

"I thought so," she said. "I hope we can do it again sometime."

"I'd like that," was his response. "I'd like to see you race too."

"You've seen me race lots of times. You're there at the Random Roster Race most nights, right?"

"Well, yeah, but I'd like to come and watch now that I know you better."

"Well, you could come tonight."

"That's true. The races are back on again. Maybe I could cheer for you?"

Jubileena's eyes lit up. "You would cheer for me?"

"Of course, if you wouldn't mind."

"I'd love that! If you do, I'll be sure to win for you."

"I bet you will."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Jubileena barely felt the ground beneath her feet as she walked out to the Cherriot, her giant slice of cherry pie set on four wheels. There was Ralph sitting at the base of her stand of fans, waving and smiling. She hopped gleefully into her kart and waved back to him. She pulled on her helmet and dropped her visor. And when the green light flashed she was off like a rocket, leaving all the others behind.

It was as if distilled luck was the fuel in her gas tank that night, for she easily snatched several power-ups before the other racers could get them. She easily dodged the hazards of the track. She easily spirited her way around the others in her path. To everyone's astonishment, her usually average performance had turned top-notch. She crossed the finish line noticeably well ahead of the other racers, even ahead of the princess.

Her sudden success did not go unnoticed, and several of the other racers all crowded around her, giving her high-fives and congratulatory hugs. Ralph hung back against her stand, beaming proudly. How could he have never noticed her before. She was so cute and sweet and could really rule the track when it was in her mind to.

Eventually the others drifted away to acknowledge their fans or to take their karts to the garage. Jubileena walked over to Ralph, and he picked her up and gave her a big hug.

"Ooh!" she squeaked, loving every moment of it. The euphoria of her win on the track had just been topped by the delight of her friend's embrace.

"You were amazing out there," he said.

"Thank you," she said, blushing. "I told you I would win if you cheered for me."

"Well if that's all it took, I should come cheer for you every night."

She giggled. "If you do that, the others will get suspicious. And they'd try to steal you away to cheer for them."

"Good point," he said, setting her down.

She hugged him again around the leg. "Thanks for coming tonight. It meant a lot to me."

"Anytime," he said, and then he stretched and looked off into the distance where the rainbow bridge led out of _Sugar Rush_. "Well I guess I'd better get going back to my game. Felix and I were going to do a bit of building tonight."

"Oh," she said, hiding her disappointment. She'd been hoping for more time together. "All right. Well, sometime I'll have to come over and see what you're building."

"You'd come look?"

"You came to watch me race. It's only fair."

"Would...would you like to come...maybe..." Ralph was blushing. "Would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow, after the Random Roster Race, maybe?"

Her face lit up brightly. "Could I?"

"I could get another pie. Maybe a cherry one even."

She giggled. "I'd love to."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Jubileena appeared at the portal to _Fix-It Felix, Jr._ at the appointed hour, just as the old-fashioned little tram was arriving. There was Ralph, stuffed into one of the carts, who waved to her to jump in.

"What did you cook?" she asked as the carts reversed and headed back into the game.

"Nothing. I told Felix I was going to have you over and he invited us to his place. We're having dinner with the Fix-It's up in Niceland."

"Oh. I thought we were having dinner together."

"We are. We're just joining them. Felix insisted. I hope you don't mind. Besides..." He scratched the back of his head. "I'm...uh...not the best cook. But Felix is pretty good."

Somehow she did mind. Her week alone with Ralph had spoiled her to his company, but perhaps this was for the best. She kept questioning her enthusiastic feelings for him, wondering if perhaps she was going too far or seeming too forward or perhaps seeming a bit too creepy for him. Every time she passed a mirror she was reminded of her overly youthful appearance—her body and face trapped perpetually at nine years old. In reality, if her character age was added to all the years _Sugar Rush_ had been plugged in, she was much closer to thirty. Of course by the same standards he was about twice her age. But what was age when one never aged physically?

"No, I'd like to get to know them a bit better." She said, trying to hide her disappointment. Felix and the _Hero's Duty_ lady had saved the populace of _Sugar Rush_ in the incident, but since the death of the president they had become practically strangers to the game.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"_Now what's this all about?" demanded Sour Bill as Felix charged into the castle._

"_There's been an accident..." Felix began, his face pale and his expression steeped in worry. "Vanellope's..." And then he noticed the small character sitting on the throne at the far end of the hall.  
_

"_Vanellope's what?" asked Bill, a strange gloating quality in his voice. Normally his emotions could be classified as depressed, morose, bored, or glum. This time something was different._

"_She's..." Felix rushed along and up to her where Princess Vanellope von Schweetz sat on her throne wearing her fluffy pink layer gown and posed with her scepter angled across her chest. "Vanellope! We thought you were dead!"_

"_Of course I'm not dead," she replied. She held out her hand and twisted it before her eyes. "See. Perfectly alive."_

_Felix breathed a huge sigh of relief. "We thought we'd lost you. They said you died in Ralph's arms."_

"_Died? What nonsense are you talking about, Mr...Mr...I don't believe I know your name." Her voice and manners seemed somewhat dazed and disconnected._

_Felix was puzzled. "I'm Fix-It Felix, Jr." he replied, his confusion growing._

"_What a charming name. I take it you're some kind of handyman," she said, her eyes falling on the golden hammer hung at his waist. "I'm just surprised that I don't know your name. I thought I knew all of my subjects."_

_Felix stared. What was going on?_

"_Well I'm pleased to meet you," said the Princess, hopping off of her throne and taking his hand. She shook it sweetly. "You seem like a very nice fellow, and I'm sure there are a lot of things here in Sugar Rush that will need fixing." She turned back toward her throne and was about to seat herself again when she looked back over her shoulder at him. "Besides the races. I don't need you to fix them for me to win." She winked and tittered a sweet sounding laugh at her little joke._

"_Of course not..." he said slowly. "If you'll excuse me, your highness." Without waiting for her leave he ran off, nearly crashing into Sour Bill near the door of the main hall of the castle._

"_Bill...what's going on? She doesn't recognize me!" he asked, fighting back the panic._

_Sour Bill folded his arms over what might be considered his chest. "So, you and your friends' game-hopping antics got her killed," he said with a bit of a snide tone to his voice._

"_What? No! Well...yes. She died in a car crash in Formula One Xtreme."_

"_They're right. You don't regenerate if you die outside of your game. Instead, a new character is created...the same character, but not the same person. The Vanellope you knew is dead and gone forever. Now we have the Vanellope that Sugar Rush is supposed to have. A real princess...not some distorted mockery of one."_

_Sour Bill would never have thought that nice-guy Felix had it in him, but suddenly Felix's hand flew out and slapped him hard enough to knock the candy ball to the ground. "Don't you ever say that again" he said angrily. "And if I ever hear you disrespect her again, I'll send Ralph to remind you of your place. We still outrank you, Bill."_

_Sour Bill sat upon the floor, startled by Felix's sudden temper and trembling at his threat._

_Felix's hands balled into fists and he marched out._

_Two of the Oreo guards ran over and helped Sour Bill up, sniggering at the green candy man. "Looks like he's picked up a few things from his wife," said one of them amusedly._

-o-o-o-o-o-

To her surprise, Jubileena enjoyed herself at the informal dinner party, sitting next to Ralph and enjoying Felix's cooking. Ralph had been right about Felix's skills in the kitchen. Calhoun, not much of a cook herself, did the serving.

Through the meal Ralph and Felix kept laughing about this glitching brick in the game that day. Apparently every time Ralph had grabbed it, it stuck to his wrist awkwardly and he couldn't get rid of it, even through the level changes. Only after the game over message appeared did it disappear. Ralph tried to make a mental note of which particular brick it was acting up, but kept forgetting, and so he kept grabbing it and getting stuck with it. Calhoun and Jubileena found it amusing, but the two men were nearly in tears laughing about this brick attaching itself to Ralph.

After dinner they didn't linger. The effects of a long day at work for the two protagonists were showing as they began to yawn and close their eyes over dessert. So Jubileena and Ralph said goodnight surprisingly early and headed out of Niceland.

Ralph took her on a tour of his game, tremendously smaller than her own, and showed her around his neighborhood. Coming to his little house she was stunned. "It's so tiny," she said. "I thought a big guy like you would have a big house."

He laughed. "I don't need much space. Just somewhere to sleep and hang my hat."

"May I look inside?"

"Well sure...but there's not really much to look at. But it sure beats the dump." He opened the door and let her inside.

"Awww...it's really cute!" she decided.

"You think so?"

"It is." She looked around. His bed took up a third of the floor space, and the rest was occupied by a desk, two chairs, and a large dresser. A shelf of curios ran along one wall above his desk. Not surprisingly, a picture of him and Vanellope held the place of honor. But she also noticed a few of the things he had picked up in their travels together. "I remember these," she said, picking up a particularly nice chocolate seashell.

On the desk below was his notebook and a stack of his hand drawn maps. "Oh...look how many maps you have!"

"Yeah. I've been working on them a lot, filling in all the empty places."

"Neat-O! I might need you to make me a map someday."

"Tell me where and it's yours," he said smiling. "If you'd like, I'll draw you one right now."

She smiled at him. "I don't know where I'd need a map of, but I'll think on it."

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 6: A Painful Anniversary**

**Chapter 7: Changes**

**Chapter 8: Breakdown**

**Chapter 9: Little Cabin in the Woods**

**Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow**

**Chapter 11: The Spring Solstice Ball**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	6. A Painful Anniversary

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Chapter 6: A Painful Anniversary**

-o-o-o-o-o-

A week later Ralph met Jubileena at the end of another Random Roster Race. He took her little hands in his and swung them playfully. "Congratulations on your win again. I suspect the other racers are starting to wonder how you're cheating since you're doing so well now."

"Well thank you," she beamed. "Taffyta's been rather miffy about it lately. And thank you again for the flowers you brought me last night. They were so pretty!"

"Weren't they? Normally the flowers in Fix-It Felix, Jr. are much smaller, but for some reason those grew really huge. It's odd. It seems like there's something weird happening every day now."

At that moment Swizzle walked past and whistled at them. "People are starting to notice we're together a lot," she said, glaring at Swizzle. The racer just made kissy lips at her but thankfully Ralph didn't see.

"I suppose we are. Hey, I was thinking, would you like to go up to the Snowcone Mountains again sometime soon, when the arcade's closed? I want to go back to those caves again with a rope and try to explore a bit further in. I noticed a few other passages when we were there."

"I was actually going to ask you about making plans too. In a couple of Saturdays Princess Vanellope's having her birthday party at the castle. Her second birthday, and it's going to be a huge event. This Vanellope just loves to have big parties. I was hoping you'd come with me as my date."

Ralph's face immediately fell. "Two years for her in_Sugar Rush_. Two years since the President was lost."

Jubileena suddenly looked horrified. How could she have forgotten? The birthday of one Princess was the deathday of another. Vanellope had been killed, and within an hour, a brand new princess took her place on the throne of _Sugar Rush. _She had no memory and was essentially a newborn, blissfully unscathed and unchanged by the reign of King Candy, completely unaware of ever having had a predecessor. "Oh Ralph. I'm so sorry. I didn't even think about it like that."

He sat down but did not release her hands. His eyes fell dejectedly to the ground. "I suppose this year we'll do the same thing we did last year—Felix, Calhoun and I just having a little memorial ceremony to her. We'll go to where she died and stand around crying for a while, and then we'll head over somewhere, probably _Tapper_'s, and get embarrassingly drunk trying to undo the sadness of the loss."

"That sounds kinda strange."

"Yeah, well. It's us." He forced a smile. "You go to the birthday party and forget all about the President, and have a good time. We'll take care of the sad side of the story."

"I don't want to go if I know you're feeling bad about it."

"Jubileena, I'll be honest. I don't want you to see me crying like a baby over a dead friend. And I don't want you to be having a sad time when you could be having a good time. Besides, the princess might throw you in the Fungeon for missing her birthday party."

"She wouldn't."

"She might. I insist you go."

"Well all right. While you're off feeling miserable I'll try to have a good time," Jubileena pouted.

"Good," said Ralph with some finality. "And when I've sobered up and my tears have dried, we'll just forget the anniversary and move on from there."

"And tonight, if we leave now, would we have enough time for exploring the caves some more?" she asked, a sudden eagerness in her voice.

"I think so. I'll just have to go back and get my equipment from my house. Think I could bum a ride off of you?"

She giggled childishly. "Of course." And so Ralph climbed onto the back of Jubileena's kart and they sped up the rainbow bridge toward Game Central Station. But for the entire drive, he kept thinking about Vanellope and the appearance of her successor, the innocent girl who sat alone on the throne of _Sugar Rush_. How different she was from what her predecessor had become.

-o-o-o-o-o-

_Felix hopped to the top of the information desk in Game Central Station and took the microphone the woman below handed him. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, reached into his chest pocket and fingered the badge pinned inside of it. In all his years he'd never had to make such a painful announcement. But it was the right thing to do—the thing the citizens of Sugar Rush wanted—and everyone needed to know. Then he opened his eyes and switched on the the microphone. _

"_Everyone..."_

_The crowd quieted down._

"_I know there are a lot of rumors going around about what happened, and I'm here to give you the truth and an important announcement. We all know that Sugar Rush was locked down last night and still is, but you'll understand why in just a minute."_

_The throng hung breathlessly on every word as Felix told them the circumstances of President Vanellope's death and of the sudden appearance of a replacement princess in Sugar Rush._

"_The citizens of Sugar Rush have voted and made the decision that the new princess is not to know that she is a replacement, and that secret needs to be kept by everyone here as well. Given the experience and the trauma the President went through in her life they've decided that this is for the best."_

_He paused, took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his brow before beginning again. "What this means for all of you, is that as far as anyone knows, Sugar Rush was plugged in last night, and you all are to treat it as a brand new game in the arcade."_

_The crowd rumbled._

"_Now some of you may not agree with this policy, especially those of you who have lost loved ones and those of you who knew the president personally, but again, this was the consensus of the people of Sugar Rush." Felix himself was against the decision, and despite their status in the kingdom he and Calhoun were completely outvoted and were bound to honor the will of the populace._

_Surprisingly though, Ralph had voted with the racers in favor of burying the memories of President Vanellope._

-o-o-o-o-o-

On the painful anniversary, Felix, Calhoun, and Ralph made their way somberly over to _Formula One Xtreme_ and to the place of the fatal crash that had claimed the life of their Vanellope. A few others from the arcade showed up as well in remembrance of her, each placing a bouquet of flowers and handfuls of candy beside the track where it had happened. Sorrowfully they stood about in quiet mourning, until Felix made a little speech, as did Calhoun and a few of the others. Ralph simply sat to the side, his head in his hands, quietly sobbing and sniffling in his world of grief.

And then he felt a tiny hand take his and squeeze it. He looked up with puffy eyes to see a small figure in a deeply hooded white robe standing there. "Shhhh," she hissed, her finger on her lips. Other small people in white robes were there as well, laying bouquets of flowers obviously picked in _Sugar Rush_ into the line of remembrances. And after placing them, each hooded figure ran up and hugged Ralph comfortingly, little arms wrapping around him as best each could.

"We have to get back and go to the birthday party," whispered the last, "before it's noticed that we're missing."

"Thank you," he said. "This means a lot to me."

"Remember, you didn't see any _Sugar Rush_ racers here," she whispered and took her turn at hugging him. "Why would any of them remember someone who never existed?"

"Of course not," he said, a faint smile finding its way to his eyes as she hurried away with the others, the scent of cherry candy lingering in the air even after she was gone.

-o-o-o-o-o-

After the memorial ceremony broke up and Ralph was able to drag himself away, everyone adjourned to _Tapper_'s, where they all toasted "the Unknown Soldier" and drank a round. From there they moved on to every bar they knew of in the arcade, even venturing out to the tavern in _Dragon Kingdom_ and the saloon in _Wild Gunman_. The group grew smaller as the night wore on, and eventually those left went back to _Tapper_'s again where Tapper offered them use of the private room where they could drink hard and reminisce about their missing friend.

Tapper ended up closing his establishment early and joining them. His usual placid demeanor soon disappeared behind a haze of strong rootbeer and soon he too was barely standing. Though Vanellope had only been a short-time customer, he too missed the girl and ended up sobbing with the friends she had left behind. Zangief ended up crying on Ralph's shoulder and Calhoun was mumbling about how great a soldier Vanellope had been and was starting to confuse the memories, going on about how valuable a member of her unit Vanellope had been as a trained sniper. Felix, having left his hammer in Gene's custody, was soon hitting them all with a rolled up newspaper trying desperately to "fix it."

There wasn't much worry about their games the next day. As had happened the year previous, Gene had been left to hop his way up Niceland, fixing things and dodging bricks. Instead of pies, the ladies of Niceland handed him cocktails for his power-ups. As for Calhoun, she'd left the task of leading the missions again to Kohut, who knew her lines word for word and knew his way up the tower as if he'd grown up there. Earthquake, from _Samurai Shodown_, had been called up to stand in for Ralph. He'd first been found as a substitute for Ralph right after Vanellope's death. The wrecker had been too consumed by grief to report in at the first quarter alert, or any other quarter alerts the rest of the week. The huge, flabby ninja had kindly stepped in to ease the panic of the Nicelanders, knowing that he'd be little missed in his own game, and proved a popular substitute. Sometimes instead of throwing bricks, he'd use his kusarigama, or spit fireballs down the face of the Niceland. The weapons were something of a shock for the Nicelanders, who were completely comfortable with seeing bricks and masonry dropping past their windows, but actual weapons and ninja conjurations were a bit startling. And then he started to use his teleportation tricks...

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 7: Changes**

**Chapter 8: Breakdown**

**Chapter 9: Little Cabin in the Woods**

**Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow**

**Chapter 11: The Spring Solstice Ball**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	7. Changes

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Chapter 7: Changes**

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Ralph?"

The giant moaned and the covers on the bed moved. "Jubie?"

"Yes, it's me. Can I come in?" She already had opened the door to his little house and was leaning halfway inside.

"This is a bad time to come visiting. I am definitely not at my best."

She giggled and tiptoed inside and put her hand on the huge lump hiding in the bed to let him know that she was there.

"How was the party?"

"It would have been the best party ever, if not for two things."

"What two things?"

"You weren't there, and the reason you weren't there."

Ralph pulled back the covers and looked at her through bleary and blurry eyes. "That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me all year." He smiled at her through his horrible headache.

"Gene's out there with Felix's hammer and that Earthquake guy. But they're wondering what to do as some of the windows on the building disappeared. There are three stories of solid brick at the bottom of the building."

"Tell them to ask Felix. My head hurts too much to care right now. I feel like the floor of _Tapper_'s"

"Felix is passed out in the bushes in front of Niceland with what I think is Sgt. Calhoun's bra hanging around his neck."

Ralph groaned again. "And did you see Calhoun?"

"Nope. And the arcade opens in half an hour."

"I'm sure someone will drag him out of sight before opening."

Jubileena reached under the covers and found his hand and squeezed it. "I'm not one of today's racers, so if you need me, I'll be in my meadow, unless you'd like me to stay here."

"Jubie, you're overwhelmingly sweet. They used way too much sugar when they made you. I don't deserve a girl like you," Ralph gushed.

"What do you mean? You deserve the world, Ralph."

"See! There you go again being all sweet." He reached out and wrapped his hand around her and pulled her into the bed for a big sleepy hug. He clutched her to his chest and she tried to ignore the fact that he stank of sweat and stale booze. "I love you Jubie. You're the sweetest thing ever."

"Ralph, do you mean it? Do you really love me?"

"I do." And then he yawned and was soon asleep again.

She wriggled out of his grasp and headed home to Sugar Rush, her head and heart afloat with romantic elation.

Back in her meadow she couldn't help herself. Not even bothering to put on her formal gown she ran through the tall grass, spinning and circling and giggling. She danced along the fallen trees and bounced on the gumdrops. Ralph had said that he loved her.

True, he hadn't been at his best when he'd said it, but he had been at his most vulnerable. His normally sharp mind hadn't been there to interfere with his bastioned heart. "I love him too!" she told the butterflies. "He loves me and I love him too!" she shouted to the peaks of the Snowcone range above.

-o-o-o-o-o-

That night, Ralph appeared at the Random Roster Race, cleaned up and much improved from his earlier state. He was awake and alert and there at the base of her stand, ready to cheer her on. She had a box full of fans, but a thousand NPC's were worth his presence.

Still sailing high on Ralph's unguarded statement, she won the race effortlessly and flew into his arms afterward. Not caring who was watching, she kissed him. And unhesitatingly Ralph kissed her back. "Does this mean that we're boyfriend and girlfriend now?" she asked, looking into his brown eyes as he held her.

"I think so," he said. "That is, if you'd like it to be."

"I would!" she declared without hesitation, and she kissed him again. The other racers stood around open-mouthed in shock at what they were seeing.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The pair's first night together in Fix-It Felix, Jr. was spent innocently playing outside of Niceland, chasing each other through the trees and having fun on the playground equipment for hours. Despite her age, Jubileena could be such a playful child at times asi f her appearance dictated her behavior. The Nicelanders all gave them the privacy Felix had demanded, but there had been a pair of eyes behind nearly every window on the right side of the building, everyone peeping and cooing at how cute the pair was playing together, and how nice it was to see Ralph with a smile on his face again.

When they grew sleepy, Ralph and Jubileena simply stretched out under a tree and curled up together and went to sleep on a mattress of 8-bit grass and only the leafless crown of the tree above for a blanket. None of the the leaves had formed on the trees that day. In the morning when they woke, they discovered that someone had left a picnic basket at their feet containing a big pie and two bottles of orange juice. The tag on the handle said "From Niceland."

More nights followed, all spent in a similar innocent bliss, whether they were in his game or hers. For them, it never mattered, just as long as they were together.

The Nicelanders found the relationship a bit odd, but not as odd as they had when he'd first gotten together with Vanellope. And even that had been tempered by Felix having broken the ice as far as inter-game relationships were concerned. Mrs. Fix-It herself seemed to be quite enthused about about Ralph's tiny girlfriend. "So when's the wedding?" she asked one morning, catching them kissing goodbye at the tram as she was headed back to her own game herself.

"We're still waiting on her to finish high school, and I'm trying to save up for a house," replied Ralph, unphased by Calhoun's teasing.

Calhoun laughed and hopped into the tram, throwing her longs legs over the front of the cart instead of trying to fit them into the Nicelander-sized compartment. "Well it's good to see that you have a plan for your future."

Jubileena was blushing and looking away in some embarrassment. There hadn't been any talk of marriage, or even a thought of it at all.

"Well if you kids need any advice from an old married lady, just ask."

Ralph was blushing himself a bit now. "Well thanks, Sergeant." He kissed Jubileena again as the departure chime rang, and then he picked her up and set her into the tram. "Have a good day of racing. Show them the reason you're top of the roster all the time."

"You're the reason I'm at the top of the roster," she giggled as the tram pulled away from the station and headed into the conduit to Game Central Station.

"Hey kid," called Calhoun after they were well away from the game.

"Yes Sergeant?" she asked, always a little intimidated by the tough-as-nails Space Marine.

Calhoun climbed over the few carts in front of her to come up right behind Jubileena, blatantly in defiance of the signs that told everyone to remain seated while the tram was operational. "You've done a world of good for Ralph," she said, settling again in the cart behind the racer. "He was completely devastated when Vanellope died. For a while I wasn't even sure he was going to make it. But he pulled through somehow. I never really expected to see him happy again. And then, after he spent that week with you exploring _Sugar Rush_, I saw a bit of light in his eyes again. And now, well, you've turned him completely around."

"Have I done that much?"

"You have, kid. I just wanted to tell you thanks. And not just from me, but from Felix and from the rest of the Nicelanders too." She put her gloved hand on Jubileena's shoulder. "It means a lot to us, especially Felix and I."

Jubileena felt something of both joy and pain in her chest. "I never knew he was so torn up after the President's death."

"He tried to hide it. The first few months were the worst. That's why Earthquake knows his job. He's the only guy who could even come close to standing in on those days when Ralph refused to get out of bed."

Jubileena giggled. "I see."

The light of Game Central Station appeared in the distance.

"There's one more thing I wanted to tell you though, kid. It's important."

"Yes?"

"Ralph's very sensitive inside, regarding Vanellope, and also about a lot of other things. If it seems like he doesn't want to talk about something, promise me you'll not push him or try to pry it out of him. Let him keep his secrets."

Jubileena blinked at her, surprised that the woman would be asking such a thing.

"Do I make myself clear, soldier?" she asked, her eyes hard on the little racer.

Jubileena nodded nervously. "I promise," she said timidly.

Satisfied, Calhoun smiled again. The tram drew to a stop at the station and they climbed out. "Have a good day of racing," said the sergeant as she swaggered out, swinging her helmet by its hanging strap.

-o-o-o-o-o-

And while the reaction to their relationship had been positive in his game, the news was not taken quite so well by her fellow racers. While Jubileena excelled on the track, winning often, there was some resistance to her relationship with Ralph.

"Are you sure you're enough woman for him?" asked Taffyta snidely one afternoon between races. "I mean really, Jubileena. He's as big as a mountain."

"Taffyta's right," said Gloyd, walking past and catching an earful of Taffyta's cynicism. "You should at least stick to your own species."

Some of the other racers standing nearby gasped at the hideous insult while a few others giggled. Snowanna rushed to her side and put her arm around Jubileena defensively. "Go away, Gloyd!" she snapped at him.

Thankfully a quarter alert sounded right then and the nine racers all ran for their cars. "Don't choose me! Don't choose me!" Jubileena whimpered, hot tears running down her cheeks. She wasn't ready to put on a happy face for the player.

And thankfully the selection went again to Princess Vanellope, meaning that all Jubileena had to do was drive, and that she didn't even have to try. The tears blurred her eyes and she was off to a late start when the race began. But a third of the way into it, she suddenly decided that all she wanted to do was beat Taffyta and Gloyd. She thought hard of Ralph, thinking of him sitting there beneath her box of fans, his big hands waving and his smile aimed right at her. And with that she suddenly picked up speed, flying along the track, dodging all the obstacles as if they were standing still. From a struggling ninth place she whipped ahead to third, determined to keep Taffyta and Gloyd behind her. And so went the rest of that day in _Sugar Rush_ her mind focused on the man she loved and on her determination to humiliate the unkind pair on the track. Often she would just follow the character the player had chosen, refusing to let either of them past, but allowing the other racers to sail by. It became terribly obvious when the player wasn't the best, but she kept it up.

When the final race of the day finished, she drove away to her secret place in Red Twist Park and hid in the tall grass, sobbing until her eyes stung.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Where did Miss Bing Bing go?" asked Princess Vanellope when she saw the Jubileena had not brought her kart into the speedway's garage at the close of the arcade. She pulled off her gloves and looked into the empty bay where the Cherriot was usually parked. Her repair crew was there shuffling about idly. "I was going to congratulate her on her racing today."

"Yeah," smiled a bitter Taffyta. Once Jubileena had turned against her and Gloyd, she'd not gotten any higher place that fifth in the races that day.

"She's got a new boyfriend," giggled some of the girls.

"Yeah, she's probably off to go meet him."

"A new boyfriend? How sweet!" said the princess with her benevolent smile.

"She's dating Wreck-It Ralph!" blurted Candlehead.

"Mr. Wreck-It? That big guy who comes to watch the races?"

"Haven't you noticed he always sits in front of her stand of fans now?"

"I hadn't given it any thought, really. He's from _Fix-It Felix, Jr._, right?"

"He's the bad guy there," said Gloyd acrimoniously. He was also feeling rather bitter toward Jubileena for her offensive against him on the Speedway.

"A bad guy? Really? I had no idea. He always has those sad brown eyes and he just looks so hurt and innocent when he's not smiling."

Taffyta struck a pose with her lollipop. "Yeah, well he is. I'm sure he'll be a bad influence on her."

Vanellope sensed a certain bias to Taffyta's pronouncement. She too had noticed Taffyta's exceptionally poor results that day. "Well, yes. We'll have to see."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Not seeing Jubileena's kart in the line-up for the Random Roster Race, Ralph went to the garage. And not finding it there either, he turned to head out the door.

Princess Vanellope stood there...alone. "Mr. Wreck-It?"

"That's me, your highness." He bowed briefly.

She bowed to him as well. "It was brought to my attention that you and Miss Bing Bing are a couple now."

Ralph suddenly felt a bit flustered. "Uh...um, yeah." He edged a little closer to the doorway. "I have to go."

"Just a moment please."

Ralph's stomach suddenly wound up into a few knots. It was bad enough that she was the duplicate of the girl he had sworn to love until death did them part, but the fact that she was asking now about his new relationship simply made it a whole lot worse.

"Miss Bing Bing's a very sweet girl," she said softly, stepping a bit closer to Ralph, completely unintimidated by his size. "And some of the other racers seem a bit concerned about you being with her, especially as you're quite different from the citizenry of _Sugar Rush_."

"I am," he said, trying to sound neither proud nor ashamed of the fact.

"Well I just want you to know that we care an awful lot about her, as I'm sure you do as well."

"I think the world of her. She's a wonderful girl in so many ways."

"So I have your assurance that you will be good to her and treat her with the love and respect she deserves?"

"Of course I'll be good to her. Look, what's this about?" He drew himself up defensively.

The princess sighed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wreck-It, but some of the others racers brought it up that you were the bad guy in your game, and that maybe you would be a bad influence on her."

"Oh...I see. I'll bet I could give you a few names to go with those accusations as well."

"You don't have to. I know who seems to be against you. I just needed your assurance so that I can tell them that all is well. It's my job to look after the kingdom after all," she said sweetly.

Ralph suddenly softened and knelt before her. "And you're doing a wonderful job of it," he said, taking her hand. "If you ever need help though, you can call on me."

The princess blinked, somewhat surprised at his statement. "Well, thank you, Mr. Wreck-It."

"May I go now?"

She nodded her head with a dip in her step. "Of course. Thank you for your time." She curtseyed again and took her leave.

-o-o-o-o-o-

It took some time to get up to Red Twist Park, and it was already beginning to get dark as he arrived. He found Jubileena asleep in the grass, and was surprised to see her still wearing her racing suit. "Jubie," he said softly, placing his hand against her back to wake her.

"Ralph!" she cried on waking and she threw her arms around his neck.

"Jubie, what's wrong?" he asked when she began crying and sniffling against his shirt.

She told him the whole story, and he did his best to calm her down and to laugh it off. "Gloyd's right though. I mean, look at these paws." He held up one of his hands and spread his fingers. "You could use that hand for a blanket. Oh wait, you have."

Jubileena giggled weakly.

"And besides, while you're not that big, your heart sure is. I have no idea how they fit it into that little ribcage of yours. I'm not sure they could even get it into my ribcage," he said, thumping his chest.

"Ralph," she sighed and hugged him tighter, wishing her arms could encircle more than his neck or one of his arms. "I love you so much, Ralphie."

"You're so good to me," he said, one hand folding over her back. He stretched back into the grass and she squirmed up onto his chest and lay her head over his heart. Her hands curled around the strap of his overalls. The stars were beginning to appear in the twilight sky. "I'll always be good to you."

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 8: Breakdown**

**Chapter 9: Little Cabin in the Woods**

**Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow**

**Chapter 11: The Spring Solstice Ball**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	8. Breakdown

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Chapter 8: Breakdown**

-o-o-o-o-o-

Coming in after finishing up her post-work duties and a perimeter check in _Hero's Duty_, Calhoun found Felix sitting on the corner of his bed with his head in his hands and looking very tired. "What's with the elevator?" she asked. "Strangest thing I ever saw. Can you fix it?"

Felix looked up at her, his eyes full of disbelief and shock, causing her to draw back slightly. "I can't," he said, his voice sounding about to crack. "The game's Code is breaking down. All those weird little glitches? They were just the start. Now it's big things not appearing...walls, windows, the trees."

"Breaking down? But that means..."

"It means that our ship is sinking. _Fix-It Felix, Jr._ is doomed. I don't know how much longer we have left."

"Oh Felix!" She rushed to her husband and took him into her arms, holding him so tightly he thought he'd never be able to straighten out completely again. "You'll come to _Hero's Duty_ with me, of course. I can get bigger quarters since there will be two of us living there. Or maybe we could fix up one of the empty rooms as a home. This isn't the end of us." She kissed him and ran her hands through his sandy brown hair. "Losing your game won't pull us apart."

"No, it won't." He looked up into her eyes, their pale blue depths still full of enthusiasm and confidence, unlike his own.

"Isn't that the most important thing? That we stay together? And we'll find homes for everyone else. Everyone here must have friends in other games where they'll be taken in, right?"

"I'm sure they will. And I'm pretty sure Ralph will go over to _Sugar Rush_. For goodness sakes, he's practically lived there ever since he met Vanellope, and now he's got Jubileena."

"See...not so bad," she said reassuringly.

"I'll be jobless."

"No you won't, presuming your hammer comes with you."

"Of course it will. What kind of a question is that?"

She pushed Felix down onto the bed, rolled him onto his stomach, and rubbed his back comfortingly. "There're plenty of things that need fixing in _Hero's Duty,_" she said. "Though too bad you can't fix shell-shock. Markowski's been particularly strung out lately."

Felix suddenly chuckled. "Climb the building! Fight bugs! Climb the building! Fight more bugs!" he said, hands flailing in the air, miming the soldier's latest breakdown after a few drinks in _Tapper's_.

Calhoun was chuckling at the shamefully accurate performance. "See, you belong with us," she said with a surprising tenderness in her voice.

"I belong with you."

"Always," she whispered and began to untuck his shirt.

"Don't rumple my feathers, not now. There's a meeting in the penthouse in half an hour about the situation. We're going to try to come up with a plan."

"And after that?"

"Given the ways things have been going I'll probably need a stiff drink and a lot of feather rumpling."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Jubileena was completely shocked when Ralph told her about the plan to begin the evacuation of _Fix-It Felix Jr._. "Ralph, what are you going to do? You know you could come live me in the Cherry Cabana."

He smiled and squeezed her little hand tenderly. "I've thought a lot about it. There's that abandoned gingerbread house I found up there in the Pine Locum forest. I'll have Felix help me fix it up and I can live there. And I can keep exploring and mapping from there." He sighed and looked down at his hands. "I'll miss wrecking stuff, but at least I'll have something to do."

"But you'll be here in Sugar Rush the whole time?"

"Well, I'll go visit my friends in other games sometimes. Felix is moving in with Sgt. Calhoun, and a bunch of the Nicelanders are already moving into _Formula One Xtreme_ as crowd filler. And Gene's actually going over to _King of Fighters_. He got himself a bartending job there on one of the stages. And the Q*Bert crew's going over to _Pac-Man_."

"That's good, and it will be nice that I get to see you so much more."

"Maybe. But I will be a bit more remote. That cabin's a long way from the road."

"We'll build a road," she smiled encouragingly. "Vanellope once said that you built her a test track."

Ralph leaned in and kissed her. "So I did."

"And then I can just drive over and see you anytime."

"When I'm not exploring. I still have so many empty places on my map to fill in."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ralph and Jubileena caught Princess Vanellope in her office after the conclusion of a Random Roster Race, and announced by the guard at the door they walked boldly up to her desk.

The Princess hopped out of her chair and came around to the front of her desk to greet them. "Miss Bing Bing. Mr. Wreck-It. What may I do for you?" she asked, bowing slightly to the latter.

Ralph dropped to one knee. "Your highness, my game, _Fix-It, Felix, Jr._ is breaking down. I've come to ask permission to stay in _Sugar Rush_, permanently."

"I've heard about the misfortune of your game and how could I refuse to let you move in with us? You've been a regular visitor, and of course a very dear friend of Miss Bing Bing." She winked at Jubileena.

Jubileena blushed and smiled and squeezed Ralph's hand.

"Not to be presumptuous, but would you be moving into the Cherry Cabana?"

"Actually," said Ralph, "there's an old broken down cabin I found in my travels, up in the Pine Locum forest in the mountains to the west of here. I was hoping to fix it up and live there, well out of the race area of the game and a good ways out of everyone's hair.

"Oh," she said, seeming somewhat disappointed, which was puzzling to all three of them. "That's so far away. You would be welcome to live in the castle here if you would like though, a permanent guest of the royal family."

"That's a kind offer, Princess, but I don't want to intrude on the affairs of _Sugar Rush_. Besides, there's a beautiful view of Mt. Toblerone from the back porch of the cabin."

"I can understand that. Well please consider it a standing invitation. And please feel free to settle where ever you'd like. You have my express permission."

"Thank you," said Ralph, bowing again to her and rising.

"Anytime, Mr. Wreck-It," she smiled and bowed back. "Let me know if you need anything of if there is any way I can assist in your move into _Sugar Rush_."

They said their goodbyes and Jubileena and Ralph left the Royal Salon, walking hand in hand. "Ralph, this is so exciting! You'll be a resident of _Sugar Rush_ now! My game!"

"It'll be my home now, not just place I go visiting and exploring."

"I'm amazed that the princess invited you to live in the castle. I think she likes you a lot. And she's always bowing and curtseying to you. She doesn't do that for anyone else. You don't think there's something of the old Vanellope deep in her Code, do you?"

"I suppose that's a possibility. I wouldn't know though."

"Well I'm just glad she said yes. I was so worried that she would tell you no and then you've have to go somewhere else."

"Well the girls in _Vegas Fever_ did send me an invitation to come live with them. Apparently they're needing someone to help them zip up their dresses."

Jubileena looked up at her boyfriend, the worry in her eyes quite evident. The showgirls in _Vegas Fever_ were all tall and gorgeous and there really wasn't much to those dresses that needed zipping up, if they could be called dresses at all.

"Awww, I'm just teasing. They didn't ask ol' ham hands here. But I did get a serious invitation to be a playable character in _Wrestling Superstars_. Apparently they've decided to go the retro route and pick up a few classic characters."

"And did you accept?"

"I told them I'd think about it. I've never been a playable character before."

"It's a lot of fun," said Jubileena. "It can be such a thrill sometimes."

"Yeah, but who knows. I think I just want to be an old retired guy for a while. You know...wear mismatched clothes long out of style and yell at you kids to get off of my lawn."

Jubileena laughed. She loved his imagination and sense of humor. "If that's what you want, I'm happy with it too."

-o-o-o-o-o-

The occupants of _Fix-It Felix Jr._ moved out, continuing to commute back to the game to do their jobs, hanging onto their world as long as possible. And when the game became noticeably dysfunctional and barely playable one day, they held a meeting and the vote to abandon ship was unanimous.

Together they all marched to the Code room and Gene opened it. Then Felix and Ralph went inside and began extracting the character Code blocks, handing them to their respective owners. "Take these to your new games, and have them installed immediately. Felix pulled his block and the block for his hammer last, and Ralph hauled him out of the Code room. "That's it," the handyman said with a sigh. "Thirty-three years over and done."

Ralph said nothing, but suddenly picked up Felix and held him tightly to his chest. "Thirty-three years is a long time for a game. I keep thinking how lucky it was to have that." And then he hugged Felix tightly. "And it's not over for us either. You've got a loving wife and a home to go to. I've got my girlfriend and a cabin in the woods. Sure it stinks of gingerbread and frosting and candy," he said sarcastically. "It's not my garbage dump, but it will be home."

Felix hugged him back. "You're right. This could just be the beginning...a new start."

"It is a new start. Life will be good again for us."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Felix sighed as he settled his and Mary's Code blocks into the Code room of _Hero's Duty_. He had expected to be the only one from his game moving in, but apparently the soldiers of Calhoun's unit had made the little lady an offer she couldn't refuse, and despite the dismal surroundings of the game she had cheerfully moved into a remodeled room in the barracks. Somehow everyone knew her cooking skills were a big part of the reason behind her relocation in such a bleak place.

He watched as a series of connections suddenly appeared and dragged the three blocks into the greater mass of programming. And then he tugged on the rope and Calhoun towed him back. "Welcome aboard, soldier," she greeted him.

"Sir, thank you, Sir," he said with a little salute. And then he looked around as the vault door closed behind him. "It's going to be strange calling this place home."

"Yep. I think it's been even stranger for Mary though. You've spent plenty of time here already. She's a complete newcomer."

"True that."

"I have to say that I'm enjoying the home cooking in the mess hall though, and the men are pretty excited to have her here. This place could use a woman's touch."

Felix looked up at her with questioning eyes.

"Me? A woman's touch? Yeah right." She only laughed.

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 9: Little Cabin in the Woods**

**Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow**

**Chapter 11: The Spring Solstice Ball**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	9. Little Cabin in the Woods

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Chapter 9: Little Cabin in the Woods**

-o-o-o-o-o-

Ralph all but disappeared over the next few months as he retreated to the Pine Locum forest and worked on his cabin. Sometimes he'd resurface for the Random Roster Race and Jubileena would greet him happily. "You're gone so long. I miss you," she'd chide him, followed by: "When can I come see the cabin?"

"When it's ready," he'd always reply.

"When will it be ready?"

"When I've built the road."

"When will you build the road?"

"Once the cabin's ready."

And sometimes they would start looping the badinage as a joke, repeating the exchange over and over until one of them gave in and moaned for a stop.

"It is taking a long time for me though. I'm having to learn to build things...not wreck them. Even with Felix helping me half of the time."

But eventually the cabin and the approaching road to it were ready and he came for her, collecting her just before the Random Roster Race began. Ralph climbed onto the back of her kart and she drove him out the long distance to his new home, high on the side of the mountains.

"Oh!" Jubileena repeated a hundred times as she walked through the cabin and the garden around it. Ralph had put a lot of effort into the rebuild, more than just patching the holes in the walls and replacing the cookie shingles on the roof. Inside was a spacious living room with an impressive fireplace along one wall. A large rug lay in front of the hearth and above the mantle hung a sign that read 'Home, Sweet Home, Literally.' A broad table took up part of the area as well, spread not with dishes but with Ralph's maps and cartography supplies. Off of the living room sat a small kitchen and a bathroom. There had been a tiny tub in the bathroom when he had found the cabin, but now there were two, the original and a much roomier one that he could fit more than just his feet into. Upstairs in the open loft were two beds, a big one with a fist painted on the headboard and a smaller one with a painted pair of cherries. "Ralph! There's even a place for me!" she squeaked excitedly on seeing the bed.

"And we built a shed out back for you to park your kart in. It snows a lot of powdered sugar up here on the cold nights."

"Oh Ralph!" She jumped up into his arms and kissed him again and again with the enthusiasm of a happy puppy.

-o-o-o-o-o-

That night as the sun went down and the glittering stars came out, Ralph piled maple logs into the fireplace and lit them, coaxing out a sweet scented blaze. He and Jubileena snuggled on the big couch nearby watching the flames. "Ralph, I know what I'm about to say sounds completely mean and selfish, but I'm glad your game is gone. If it weren't we wouldn't be here right now in your beautiful gingerbread house."

"Sometimes it takes a disaster to change things for the better," he said as he nuzzled his button nose into her cherry-scented hair affectionately.

"It was a disaster, but everything worked out."

"It did. I still have you. I still have a place to live. I still have my friends. But now I have more of everything." He kissed her on the top of her head again. "And I think everyone in my game found a place to go."

"Maybe sometime we can go visiting and see how everyone's doing."

"That would be nice. I'm curious to see how Mary's getting along in _Hero's Duty_. Last I heard from Felix, the men all voted to promote her to the rank of 'Mom'."

Jubileena giggled. "But not tonight. Tonight I just want to spend time in your new home and relax in front of the fire and sleep in that little bed upstairs." She looked up at him lovingly. It really had been a disaster, but now it seemed as if it were meant to happen. They would be together in Sugar Rush now, together in a sweet little world of revving engines and hand-drawn maps, snuggling together in his adorable gingerbread cabin

"Are you sure that bed's yours?" he teased. There was no question that the bed was for her. He had even placed a little pair of pink slippers on the rug beside it.

She groaned and then started tickling him. Some time ago she'd discovered that he was quite ticklish to her touch, and it didn't take much to have him writhing and sweating on the floor, tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. And soon she had him there, rolling on the braided rug holding his sides and trying to escape. And when he did, he ran away, and she chased him all around the cabin, up and down the stairs, in and out of the doors, and even across the porch roof at one point. But then he suddenly turned, and too late to change direction she ran right into him, where he scooped her up in his big hands and held her against his chest, the racer squirming and laughing.

Ralph carried her back inside and sat down on the big couch again. When he looked into her eyes she stopped squirming and simply gazed back. "Ralph?" she prompted, knowing there were words ready to spill.

"I made that bed hoping that there would be a Mrs. Wreck-It someday."

"A Mrs. Wreck-It? But...there are cherries painted on the headboard. I thought that you made it for me." She felt a little confused. Was her welcome only temporary?

He took a breath and nodded to her, too nervous to say anything else.

Suddenly it hit her. "Wait, are you...are you wanting to marry me?" Her stomach began to flutter as the conjured butterflies began to panic.

He nodded again, trying desperately to read the emotion in her words and face. But then his voice returned. "I thought about it a lot, Jubie. You were always on my mind as I fixed up this place. Every shingle. Every floorboard. Every stepping stone. Every foot of that road. I felt like I was fixing up this place for us. Not just for me, but for us." It was complete truth. For the first time in so long the shadow of Vanellope's death had not hung upon him. Instead there was the bright glow of his cherry girl filling every waking moment.

Ralph moved off of the couch and went to his knees before her. Taking her shaking hand, he gave her the gentlest, sweetest smile he could conjure, throwing in plenty of the pleading looks that Vanellope used to give him. "Jubileena, would you be my wife and share my cabin with me? Would you even consider marrying a big sappy guy like me?"

Jubileena felt herself trembling from head to toe.

Long ago she had hoped to someday marry one of the boy racers, but had given up on those dreams as the years passed and her attempts to get close to any of them had failed. So after the realization that her fate was that of a perpetual batchelorette, she'd resigned herself to a life devoted to her job as a racer and fun with her friends.

But seeing some of the other racers find love, either with each other or with characters outside of the game, she'd begun again to long for a companion. A storybook of fairytales at a slumber party one night had led to her foolish romantic fantasy and all too many hours wasted lying in the licorice grass of Red Twist Park. Until one afternoon a fateful clumsy moment in that meadow had brought an unlikely but likeable someone into her life. She had been thrilled and even content with Ralph's romantic friendship and kisses, but here he was offering a full commitment.

"Ralph, I will!" she blurted, not even pausing to think any further beyond her gut reaction. Dizzy...completely dizzy.

His sweet expression became one of great joy and he snatched her up and hugged her tightly. "Jubie," he purred and rubbed his cheek against hers.

"I'm going to be a bride," she squeaked to herself. "A real bride! I'm going to have a wedding." Her head danced with excitement. "Can we have a big wedding? With a huge cake and lots of flowers and all our friends? I'll ask Snowanna and Adorabeezle to be my bridesmaids!"

"Anything you want," he said happily. "I'll have Felix be my best man, and I'll hire Mary to make you the biggest wedding cake anyone's ever seen."

"I bet Princess Vanellope would let us get married in the castle, and we could have the party there afterwards."

Ralph's elation suddenly came to a screeching halt. "The castle?"

"Sure! That's where all the best parties in Sugar Rush are held."

The big man recovered himself quickly. "I have a better idea. Lets have the wedding up in Red Twist Park, where we first met." The castle was just too close to the cracks in his heart.

"An outdoor wedding? Ooh! I love it! It's so pretty up there and it's so us."

"It's very us."

"I can't wait to tell everyone we're getting married. Snowanna's going to have kittens! And I think Adorabeezle will probably melt. Or should we keep it a secret for now?" She pulled back and looked at Ralph, wondering what his decision would be.

"I'd say tell everyone. Especially Taffyta."

"I will! I'll tell everyone!" She held him tightly, but then suddenly began crying as another realization struck her. "Ralph. We're going to be together, together in love forever," she whimpered in her sweet naivety.

He smiled and hoped that there wasn't any sadness showing through that smile. The loss of Vanellope had taught him the foolishness of the word 'forever.'

-o-o-o-o-o-

_Ralph sat down across the table from Vanellope, a small one set up for an intimate dinner near the bay window at the end of her office. "This looks nice. Kinda romantic," he said. "What's the occasion?" _

_She lit the two candy cane tapers. "Three months since the incident," she said, flouncing into her seat. She was wearing another of her royal gowns, not her fluffy layered one that was her default dress, but a confection of pale rose georgette that made her look somewhat older and more serious._

"_I guess it has been. It already seems so far in the past."_

"_And it's been one week since Felix and Calhoun were married."_

"_I still remember that."_

_Vanellope giggled. "I'd hope so."_

_Sour Bill arrived at the table with a bottle of pink sparkling wine and filled up their glasses. "This is a special occasion, isn't it?" remarked Ralph. And then he squinted his eyes at her. "Wait, aren't you a bit young for champagne?"_

"_Do the math, Stinkbrain." She picked up her glass in a toast. Ralph raised his as well and touched the lip of it to hers. The delicious chime created as the two glasses clinked together seemed to echo along the long, high-ceilinged office. "To the safety of Sugar Rush," toasted Vanellope._

"_To the safety of your kingdom," smiled Ralph and he sipped the bubbly. It was just like her...pink and sweet and effervescent and quietly dangerous._

_Sour Bill brought in a tureen of candied fruit soup and ladled it into two bowls for them. "Bon Appetit," he said unenthusiastically before departing back to the kitchens._

_As they enjoyed the soup, Ralph noticed that Vanellope kept looking across the table at him between the candles. And she was using 'that look,' the one that meant that she was about to twist his arm and force him into doing something he might not necessarily agree with. "All right," he said eventually, unable to take the gaze any longer. Something about the combination of delighted expectancy and sad-eyed waifishness in it always triggered something in his vulnerable heart. "What do you want?"_

"_What do you mean?" she asked innocently._

"_When you look at me like that, I know there's something you want from me."_

"_Am I that obvious?"_

"_To me you are."_

"_Ralph, we should get married," she said matter-of-factly._

_He was glad he wasn't sipping his champagne, or that he didn't have a spoonful of soup in his mouth, otherwise he would have spit either across the table. "What?!" he coughed, and kept coughing in shock._

"_We love each other, don't we?"_

"_Well yes, but it's not that kind of love."_

"_It could be. Besides, what about what happened after the wedding reception?"_

_Ralph blushed. Somehow they'd gotten caught up in the emotion and passion of Felix and Calhoun's nuptials and had ended up on a park bench somewhere outside of Niceland, kissing and clutching each other for hours. "I guess we did get a bit carried away. I told you I'm not always myself when I've been drinking."_

"_Ralph, you'd not had anything to drink. You were stone-cold sober so you can't blame it on that."_

"_Okay, so I was feeling kinda romantic that night," he said slowly, trying to play down their serious make-out session with the tone of his voice. It was true, he was an emotional sap. "But Vanellope, you can't marry me. You deserve someone better. Someone from your own game at least. I'm just the guy who wrecks the building." He shuddered. He was using Gene's words, but somehow they weren't as offensive when he applied them to himself._

"_I don't want someone better, and I don't want someone from my own game." She glitched out of her chair and was beside him, hanging onto his arm. "I want you, Ralph." Her eyes had gone into full-on puppy-dog mode. "Ralph, you know I love you, and you know that you love me. Please?"_

_Not so many months ago he had been a pariah pushed to the breaking point. And now here he was dining in a castle with a cute loveable girl that wanted to marry him, and not just any cute loveable girl in a castle, but a popular character in the arcade as well, and not just any popular character, but the president of her game and the princess of a kingdom. What had he done to deserve this?_

_And she was right. He did love her, and he did want to marry her. At that moment it felt to him as if his heart might leap from his chest. "You really want this?"_

"_I do. I want to be yours forever, until the final Game Over."_

"_You really mean it? You're not just playing?"_

"_I do mean it, Ralph. I want this more than anything else in the world," she pleaded._

"_All right," he said, his hands shaking terribly. He took a deep breath. "But on two conditions."_

"_Tell me."_

"_One, I'm still Wreck-It Ralph, and I'm in my game every day the arcade's open. And two...that our marriage is kept a secret."_

"_A secret? Why a secret?"_

"_I don't want all the Nicelanders knowing that I married some brat with dirty hair."_

_She looked at him blankly for a moment, and then laughed so hard that she fell out of her chair and onto the floor. "Good, because I don't want anyone in the kingdom to know I married some Bad Guy who lives at the dump."_

_They both laughed and then kissed and toasted the engagement to make it official. When Sour Bill came back in, Ralph looked over at the blushing Vanellope. "We should probably tell him though, right?"_

_She nodded._

"_Tell me what?" asked Bill disinterestedly as he removed their soup bowls and replaced them with their dinner plates._

"_Vanellope and I are going to be married," said Ralph, leaning casually back into his chair._

_His face a sudden storm of panic, the sourball whipped his head around to face Ralph, who nodded. And then he looked at Vanellope, hoping that the wrecker was just teasing him._

"_It's true," she said with a huge grin._

_Sour Bill turned two shades lighter and fainted to the floor._

"_Awww. That wasn't much fun. I was hoping to torture him a bit longer," Ralph moaned._

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow**

**Chapter 11: The Spring Solstice Ball**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	10. Back to the Meadow

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Chapter 10: Back to the Meadow**

-o-o-o-o-o-

"I don't know how you can be so calm, Ralph," remarked Felix, pulling on his tuxedo jacket. "I'm nervous and I'm not even the one getting married."

Ralph chuckled as he struggled with his bowtie. "I know. What's with that? Heck, you barely survived your own wedding. Could you fix this for me?" he requested, pointing at his throat.

"I never thought I'd see you go through this once, let alone twice," Felix said as he pulled up a chair, stood on it, and tied Ralph's bowtie for him.

"I only wanted it to be once. Fate is a funny thing."

"Jubileena's a sweet girl, and she loves you to no end."

"She is. She's no Vanellope—there's none of that craziness and edge-of-your-seat adventuring spirit. But she's adorable and I always feel happy to have her around. Marrying her just seemed like the right thing to do. And honestly, I'm surprised that she accepted."

Felix finished with the bowtie and stepped back to check it. "Looks good," he said.

"She still doesn't know that I married Vanellope. That's still our secret to keep."

"Will you ever tell her?"

"Probably not, and there's no need to." Ralph went to the thin cheval mirror and looked himself over. "Do I look all right?"

"You look fabulous. She's going to love it."

Ralph took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I think I'm ready."

"I'll let the others know."

Signals exchanged, Felix and Ralph took their places beside the officiant and waited for Jubileena to walk down the aisle. The wedding guests all sat around on blankets in the meadow, the affair being rather innocent and informal. On the groom's side, Calhoun sat up near the front in her dress uniform. Behind her were most of the Nicelanders. Several other friends from around the arcade had come as well, along with most of the Bad-Anon members. Zangief, predictably, was sniffling and wiping away tears.

On the bride's side, Princess Vanellope sat at the front, wearing a lacy pink dress and holding a matching parasol to shade herself. Sour Bill sat next to her looking exceptionally glum. Behind them sat the rest of the Sugar Rush racers, followed by Jubileena's candy fans. At the edge of the meadow, watching shyly from a distance, were the curious citizens of Sugar Rush who had come to see their Jubileena Bing Bing tie the knot with the big, loveable foreigner.

From the tent set up for the women to dress in, Jubileena stepped out, and everyone was astounded. She wore a marshmallow white gown with a high collar and long sleeves. Her candy-apple red hair hung in rolling curls beneath the sheer veil attached to her rhinestone tiara. In her hands she clutched a bouquet of cherry blossoms and baby's breath.

Out of the tent behind her came Adorabeezle and Snowanna, dressed in cherry-printed sundresses, and escorted her down the aisle. Jubileena's candy fans began cheering wildly and had to be told to quiet down as this was a wedding and not a race.

Reaching the place the three men stood, Jubileena climbed up the little stepladder that had been placed there for her, and then she turned to smile at Ralph through her veil. "I love you," she mouthed to him.

Ralph could only grin stupidly.

-o-o-o-o-o-

There was a certain loss of social status that came from losing one's game and moving into another. Refugees were rarely granted citizenship, whether or not their Code blocks had been placed into their new homes or not. For Ralph, this loss of status simply meant that he took the name of Bing Bing on marrying Jubileena.

Felix found it hilarious and called him "Mr. Bing Bing" at every appropriate opportunity. In retaliation, Ralph began calling him "Mr. Calhoun" or "Mr. Sergeant". Unexpectedly, "Mr. Sergeant" caught on in Hero's Duty and soon everyone there was calling him that—even his wife.

The Bing Bing's lived happily in their new home. Their married life was quiet and peaceful, and Ralph did his best to keep his little bride content. It took very little to please her though. Jubileena asked for little from him, but Ralph never left her wanting for love and attention.

The former wrecker threw himself in to his cartography, dividing his time between drawing maps and exploring to create them. His knowledge of the game's geography and topography became well known, and soon he began producing printed maps for sale. Until his, there had never been any mapsof the land as a whole. There had only been a few of the various race courses. The first edition sold out quickly, much to his surprise, and a second edition was soon printed. With their popularity, he began to produce maps of specific areas, mostly the pretty places that suddenly became popular with the citizenry and a few tourists to Sugar Rush. When not drawing or publishing his maps, Ralph continued his wandering across the land, sometimes for days at a time to the furthest corners of the game. Not having to smash a building six days a week meant he had limitless time to explore.

Jubileena concentrated on her racing. She no longer needed Ralph right there to take the top spot on the roster if she wanted. In fairness to the others, her racing results began to take on a predictable pattern. If her husband was there cheering for her, she could be counted on to cross the finish line in first or second place. Without him present, she would usually contentedly glide in toward the bottom of the roster. At other times, Jubileena would simply take a week off of racing and spend time adventuring with her husband.

Sometimes, when Ralph was away exploring alone, the gingerbread cabin proved a bit too quiet and a bit to far away from the bustle in the village, and Jubileena would feel rather isolated. But to combat this, she would return to her Cherry Cabana and live there until he returned. And sometimes Adorabeezle and Snowanna would come to visit the cabin and sleep over with her. One memorable time Ralph had come home unexpectedly in the dark of night. He had tiptoed quietly about as not to wake his wife, and as he started to climb into his bed and found it full of candy, racing magazines, mushy romance novels, and the three sleeping Sugar Rush racers.

And so their days of married life went, the pair quite happy and cozy in their mountain home. Jubileena remained completely unaware that she was Ralph's second wife, and it seemed that the memory of the first Vanellope would remain supressed. But that would soon change as the burning fuse headed straight for a confrontation.

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 11: The Summer Solstice Ball**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


	11. The Summer Solstice Ball

**Filling in the Empty Spots**

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Chapter 11: The Summer Solstice Ball**

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Ralph! What ever are you wearing?! Jubileena gasped, coming down the stairs from the loft to find her husband dressed in a fur coat, gloves, and snowboots.

He grinned at her and continued packing his bag. "I'm going exploring." The clock chimed...two hours until the arcade opened.

"Well obviously," she said, watching him carefully storing his compass and notebooks into the pack. "Where did you get that coat? You look like a bear in need of a haircut."

"Borrowed it from Zangief. You don't think he runs around in his wrestling shorts all the time, do you? I'm going to do some exploring up in the far north, up past the Frozen Delights track," he explained. And then he got a wicked look in his eye and he raised his arms. "GRRR! I'm a big hungry bear and I'm looking for something sweet!" He took a few steps toward Jubileena, sniffing the air exaggeratedly. "And I found something! Grrr!" He reached for her playfully.

Figuring out his game immediately, she shrieked excitedly and ran away laughing. Growling and snarling, Ralph gave chase, and she led him all over the cabin. When he caught her in front of the fireplace she screamed and giggled, and he put her arm into his mouth and pretended to chew on it.

"Ewww! Ralph! That's disgusting! I can feel your tongue!" she cried.

He rubbed his tongue up and down her forearm making her giggle and complain all the more.

"But I'm a hungry furry bear. Grrr!" He then picked his little wife up and turned her upside down. To her horror he pulled off one of her boots and the sock underneath and started to lick her foot. "Ralph!" she squealed and squirmed. "That tickles! That's so icky! Bleah! Stop licking my foot!"

"But you taste yummy! Grrrr!" He pushed her whole foot into his mouth. "Mmmm...cherry!"

Jubileena squeaked and squealed and tried to worm away. "Ewww! I'm going to need a bath after this! My foot's all slobbery! Your tongue's touching me!"

Suddenly there was a "Helloooo!" at the open door of the cabin.

Ralph turned around, and at the door stood a candy man much like Jubileena's NPC fans but with a messenger's cap and a bag slung over his shoulder. In his hands was an envelope held out toward them. He made a little choking sound at seeing the racer hanging by her foot from the giant's mouth.

Realizing he was scaring the messenger, Ralph spit Jubileena's foot out of his mouth, turned her right side up, and set her down carefully. Jubileena limped over and took the proffered letter from the wide-eyed piece of sentient candy. "What is it?" she asked, noting the man's bag full of identical envelopes emblazoned with the royal crest.

"Princess Vanellope von Schweetz is hosting another party—the Summer Solstice Ball," he announced happily. "I'm delivering invitations."

Jubileena squeaked. "A ball!" She hurriedly tore open the envelope and read the announcement once to herself, and then read it out loud. And then she took it to Ralph and showed him. He had taken off the coat and gloves and was back at the table with his maps.

"I must be off...lots more to go," said the messenger as he turned for the door.

"Thank you!" Jubileena called after him as he departed

Jubileena placed the invitation to her and Ralph on the mantle of the fireplace, having just made him read it himself. "Ralph, I'm so excited! I wonder if I should get a new dress for it. Or maybe just some new shoes. Ooh, how about some bright red high heels? Would you like that." She spun around on her one remaining boot.

He ran his hand through his shaggy hair and smiled at her. "I like everything you wear."

"Awww...you say the sweetest things. Hey, what are you going to wear? Your tuxedo, or maybe get something different? You were so cute at the Christmas party, dressed up like a giant elf." She bounced over to where he was sitting at the table organizing his maps. A fur hat topped by a pair of goggles sat on the chair beside him.

"I dunno. I probably won't go. It's just a party, and I was thinking about heading up to the White Mocha Tundra about that time."

His wife's face fell. "It's not just a party. It's going to be the biggest party ever. And I thought you liked parties."

"It's a ball...formal dress required, printed right on the invitation. You know that's not me."

"I see..." she said sadly. "I'd just hoped that..." Jubileena stopped and walked away sadly. She hated to beg or cajole. "I have to get ready for the races. I placed second last night."

"All right, sweetheart. Good luck on the track today." Ralph blew her a kiss from atop ink-stained fingers.

-o-o-o-o-o-

When she returned from the races that evening Ralph wasn't there as she'd expected. His traveling pack and compass were gone again, along with the fur coat. But his tuxedo had been laid out on his bed. On the floor next to it sat a brand new pair of Ralph-sized shoes. Shoes! He hadn't even worn shoes to their wedding! And right next to the shoes stood a tiny pair of cherry-red high-heeled pumps. Pinned to his tux was a note that simply read: "Love ya."

Elated, Jubileena tugged off her boots and slipped the pretty little shoes on and waltzed around the loft. How had he managed to get them so quickly? "I love ya too, Ralph! Come home from exploring soon so I can tell you in person."

-o-o-o-o-o-

The announcement of the Summer Solstice Ball had everyone in Litwak's all talking and excited. Princess Vanellope, the new social queen of the arcade, was going to throw the biggest party that Litwak's had ever known and everyone was invited. Her birthday party had been spectacular. Her Christmas party had been voted the best in the arcade. And from the rumors going around, this would easily outdo that. So as soon as the thousands of invitations were delivered there was a mad panic of people looking for tuxedos and formal gowns and dates for the event.

And when the night of the Summer Solstice Ball came Grand Central Station was crowded and alive with activity as people were making their way out of their games and into _Sugar Rush_. Felix, Mary, Sgt. Calhoun, and her unit came out of the _Hero's Duty _portal all looking very sharp. Mary had put on a long gown and a tall frivolously feathered hat. The men were barely recognizable out of their battle armor, having exchanged the bulky black plates for their dark olive green dress uniforms. They seemed half their usual size.

"Mary! Felix!" called Norwood as he spotted them. He and some of the other Nicelanders came over. "You look great," he remarked to Mary.

"Thanks," she said with a little primping gesture to her hair.

And then he looked up at the tall contingent of soldiers, all looking handsome and polished. "So which one's your date?"

"Well, all of them," she giggled. "I had so many invitations that it wouldn't have been fair of me to choose."

Calhoun, unlike her men, had opted not to wear her dress uniform and chose a formal gown instead. She swaggered over to say hello to Felix and Mary's former gamemates, aquamarine taffeta rustling. She looked absolutely stunning in the color and cut of the dress. Felix could barely keep his attention elsewhere. The Nicelander men were having the same problem. The warhorse could clean up quite nicely when she wanted to.

"Hey!" came Gene's familiar voice. He walked over, dressed to the nines, escorted by two bright-eyed blond women—twin sisters. The pair were dressed in matching gowns, one wearing forest green and the other wearing plum. "It looks like a reunion here," said Gene smugly. "I hope life is treating you all well." The staring of the men at his dates did not go unnoticed by the former mayor.

"Gene, we don't see you that often. How've you been?" asked Felix.

"Great. Keeping busy at the bar. You should come by and see it sometime. I know it's a bit out of the way, but it's got a lot more class than Tapper's. Right girls?"

The two blondes with him smiled and nodded. "Please do come visit sometime," said one.

"Gene's a good bartender," said the other.

"Well girls, let's go see what this ball's like before we run out of time," he said to the twins. "I promised your boss I'd have you in bed by two." Sauntering off with his dates, Gene winked back at the others, grinning smugly over his double entendre.

"Oh wow..." said Norwood. Mary was looking a little disturbed. Calhoun was just shaking her head.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Shuttles ferried the attendees from the top of the rainbow bridge and up the long road to the castle. Ralph and Jubileena were waiting near the front doors and the four went inside together.

Despite having having heard of the decoration plans for the ball, they were astounded at the final product. The long hallway that formed the core of the castle, normally rather empty and spartan, had been filled with giant flower decorations and archways of balloons. An orchestra played at the center of the hall, the music filling the room all the way to the ends. Acrobats dressed as garden fairies hung from banners strung from the ceiling, striking poses and spinning from the cloth in their glittering costumes. Four more entertainers, dressed as the four seasons, danced atop a raised platform near the front entrance.

After taking in the grand spectacle the Princess had prepared, Ralph was the first to speak. "Shall we dance?" he asked the others.

"Let's!" giggled Jubileena.

"I'm with them," said Calhoun nonchalantly.

They hurried past the arriving crowds toward the dance floor set up near the orchestra. Ralph picked up Jubileena and spun onto the dance floor, his tiny wife sitting on his left arm and her cheek pressed to his.

"Madam?" queried Felix, holding out his elbow to Calhoun.

"I'd love to, Mr. Sergeant," she said.

The four danced for several songs, Ralph teasing his wife about being so light on her feet. "It's almost as if you were floating." And then they traded partners, Ralph gently setting Jubileena down and taking Calhoun in his arms. The orchestra started up a tango, and so he gripped Calhoun tightly against his chest and struck a pose. "Behave yourself, Ralph. That's my wife," teased Felix. "If I see you getting fresh with her, I'll...well...I'll let her break your arm."

Jubileena didn't know how to tango, so she and Felix just watched Ralph and Calhoun on the dance floor. Their tango together was rather unromantic, but completely entertaining, the two fooling around and putting on a little show for their spouses. At one point Ralph ended up down on one knee with the sergeant bent backwards over the other. Seizing the opportunity, he pretended to kiss her, their faces hidden from Felix and Jubileena. Coming back up out of the moment, Ralph mimed gagging and stuck out his tongue and wiped it off frantically, sending the onlookers into fits of giggles. A waltz followed, and Felix pulled Jubileena onto the floor and the two danced until the very last note.

At midnight, Princess Vanellope appeared, dressed stunningly as the Spirit of Summer. Yards of pale green gossamer embroidered with delicate butterflies and summer flowers surrounded her tiny figure. Sour Bill floated morosely behind her, a wreath of sparkling sugar flowers forced upon his head. She addressed the crowd and thanked them all for coming to her party. And then she walked down the long hall, greeting her subjects and guests, delicately shaking hands with them and thanking each personally.

As she came to Jubileena and Ralph she smiled warmly and told them how happy she was for their marriage and how sweet it was to have them living in the kingdom together. "It's like you've always belonged here, Mr. Bing Bing," she said warmly.

His eyes followed her as she moved on, greeting Felix and Sgt. Calhoun.

"I know. You still miss her," whispered Jubileena in his ear once the princess was gone. "And I know you always will. It's okay with me." She hugged his hand tightly and kissed it, leaving a cherry-red lipstick print on the back of it. Ralph smiled at his little wife and stroked her hair affectionately.

-o-o-o-o-o-

As Felix swung Jubileena around the dance floor again they passed Taffyta, who was standing at the side of the dance floor with Rancis and Candlehead and some of the other Sugar Rush racers. "Hey Jubileena, that's not your husband. Where is he? Oh, that's right. One misstep and you'd be squashed like a bug on a windshield."

"Leave me alone, Taffyta," she said, the same thing she had told the girl more than once before.

As the turn in their waltz whirled Felix past Taffyta, he glared at her. "Don't spoil the party," he cautioned.

"I'm just saying," continued Taffyta. "Well I'm sure that you'll make a more careful choice next time you pick a husband."

Jubileena let go of Felix and marched up to Taffyta. "I said leave me alone."

"Fine. But at least I want to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?"

"For teaching me not to fall in love with whomever just happens to wander by."

Jubileena stamped her foot angrily. "He didn't 'just wander by,' Taffyta."

"That's not what I heard," she smirked.

Felix came to Jubileena's side and folded his arms over his chest. "Taffyta, why are you so mean? What has Jubileena done that's so wrong that you have to keep attacking her for it? I know this isn't the first time, or even the second. She's told us."

Felix's questions caught her off guard. She had expected Jubileena to fight back, but not the handyman. "Well, well she...you know..."

"So you don't have a real reason and you're just being mean?"

"Well look at him. He's like what...like ten feet tall, built like an ape, and worst of all he's a bad guy." The venom absolutely dripped from the last two words.

"That was just his job. We all know Ralph's everyone's friend here."

By now people were staring at the confrontation, and in the area all the dancing had stopped. The raised voices had halted all nearby conversations.

"There's nothing wrong with being the bad guy, in any game," pronounced Felix.

"Have you both forgotten that Ralph went Turbo and nearly destroyed _Sugar Rush_?"

"A Cy-Bug nearly destroyed _Sugar Rush_...thousands of Cy-Bugs. We were all there."

"A Cy-Bug that he brought here, from Hero's Duty. I know the whole story. What was he doing in Hero's Duty? I thought he belonged to your game, Felix." Taffyta folded her arms over her chest. "Face it, Jubileena. Ralph is a bad guy."

"He is not! Ralph ended up saving _Sugar Rush_ and getting rid of Turbo and the Cy-Bugs, and he was about to sacrifice himself to do so. He would have died if Vanellope hadn't rescued him."

"And if he'd failed? Two games shut down because of him." Taffyta struck a pose and flipped her hand dismissively. "Bad. Guy."

"He is not! Look, you never said anything when Ralph was dating Vanellope. I mean he practically lived here in the castle with her then. Why are you saving all this hostility for me?" Jubileena demanded.

"What's this about Cy-Bugs and me dating Mr. Bing Bing?" asked Princess Vanellope, stepping out through a cluster of guests.

Felix and the other racers all blanched. Jubileena slapped her hands over her mouth.

"I don't seem to recall there being any Cy-Bugs in _Sugar Rush_ and I certainly never dated Mr. Bing Bing."

"Your highness, perhaps you misheard. It is quite noisy in here," said Sour Bill.

"No. I distinctly heard some rather strange things. Would you three mind explaining? Miss Muttonfudge? Mrs. Bing Bing? Mr. Fix-It?"

Felix looked to the others who were all standing around with fearful expressions on their faces. The biggest secret in the arcade was about to come crashing down on the darling princess. And then he looked at the princess, who stood there blinking back at him expectant of an answer. His throat tightened, and he looked to the racers again. "I'm going to tell her. I always thought she should know."

"No, you can't!" choked Rancis, rushing up to Felix and grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Tell me what? What's going on?" Vanellope asked, growing all the more concerned.

"Something your kingdom has been hiding from you, your Highness." He pushed Rancis away and smoothed his tuxedo jacket.

"We all decided not to tell her. That was the will of the people!" blurted Adorabeezle. She ran up to Vanellope. "Please, Princess. Just make him stop now and don't listen to him."

"Yes, he's a foreigner," chimed in Taffyta.

Princess Vanellope looked at Felix again. "Well, they are my subjects, and yes, you are a foreigner..." she said slowly, rather worried about what might be unfolding here.

"I am from another game, true." And then he opened the left side of his tuxedo jacket. There, pinned to the lining was a large badge, and not just any badge. It was the royal crest of _Sugar Rush_ held in the paws of a rampant lion. "I also hold the rank of knight in your kingdom."

Taffyta grimaced. He would have had to play that card.

The princess' eyes opened wide, but then narrowed questioningly. "I never knighted you. I hardly know more than your name." She looked quickly to Sour Bill.

The green candy ball nodded. "He is a knight."

Felix turned to Jubileena, who was clutching his arm. "Go find Ralph and Tammy. We'll be in the president's office."

"The president's office?" she asked, surprised as it hadn't been called that since the loss of President Vanellope. These days it was known as the Royal Salon.

Felix nodded.

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Filling in the Empty Spots continues in:**

**Chapter 12: The President's Legacy**

**Chapter 13: A Heavy Crown**

**Chapter 14: The Final Secret**

**Chapter 15: Filling in the Empty Spots Commentary**

-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Wreck-It Ralph _and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Walt Disney Pictures. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.


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